


free kick into my heart

by smtowndream



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Football | Soccer, Football | Soccer Player Lee Donghyuck | Haechan, Mark/Jaemin as a side ship, Multi, Renjun/Yangyang.. hinted? not sure., SOCCER CAPTAIN DONGHYUCK
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:07:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21708721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smtowndream/pseuds/smtowndream
Summary: “How can you even think of flirting with me when I’m your tutor? And not to mention the captain of your soccer team?”Jeno shrugs, taking a sip from his iced Americano that’d been abandoned on the outskirts of the table. “Maybe I find those in positions of power attractive.” A pause, and another grin. “Or maybe it’s just you.”(Being a honors student and a soccer captain is enough for Lee Donghyuck’s schedule, but add in tutoring an insanely handsome and overly kind transfer student? Donghyuck is bound to find out if he wants to kiss or kill Lee Jeno for being such ahotmess—whether he likes it or not.)
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Lee Jeno
Comments: 18
Kudos: 235
Collections: ’00 FIC FEST: ROUND ONE





	free kick into my heart

**Author's Note:**

> HELLOOOOO 00 FF READERS :D I don’t want to say too much to avoid saying something that may just give away who I am, however I’m very excited for everyone to read this! #00222 is the prompt and I’d like to thank the prompter for giving such an amazing prompt! hope I could fulfill it to how you envisioned it. sorry it’s a bit long :’) enjoy, nohyuck lovers!
> 
> and to my lovely beta Ali who stayed with me throughout the process of the fic, correcting my many grammatical errors and major slip ups: thank you, so much. wouldn’t have gotten here w/o your editing! i appreciate all you did :’) thank you x200!

“Hey, Donghyuck! Push up!”

With a nod of acknowledgement and a rickety breath shaking his chest, Donghyuck forces himself to sprint further down the line. As his cleats batter into the synthetic pitch, he can feel the beads of sweat collect at his temple before they hastily trickle down the side of his face.

Donghyuck isn’t completely sure how many minutes his team even has to one up the deficit. He can feel his energy dwindling with every second that passes, the way it only does near the culmination of a match. Since just about the beginning of the second half, his team had been tied—2 a piece with a freshman from Donghyuck’s team scoring the most recent goal. However, that goal had been forever ago, and his team is in urgent need of another to capture the win for themselves without sharing points with the opposing team.

Possession is in favor of Donghyuck’s team with the ball resting contently at the feet of one of his best friends, Mark Lee. With Donghyuck on his heels, Mark is dribbling down the pitch, his incredible speed making it less of a chore to infiltrate the opposite team's side.

When Mark takes a second too long to advance, a midfielder springs essentially from the air to block his path. Realizing he is a bit too far up the pitch for his defender’s liking, Mark, who would rather offer a fellow teammate a last minute opportunity to score than take his own chances and be swindled by a rival player, blindly passes the ball to his left, retreating back to his post.

The luck must have been in his team’s favor, as the ball is picked up swiftly by freshman forward, Zhong Chenle. He is directly outside the box, and with little time on his hands—or rather, on his feet—his only option is Donghyuck, who is standing stationary by the post.

With a vague hand gesture angled in Donghyuck’s direction, Chenle punts the ball towards him. Hyuck knows exactly what to do when the ball lands almost perfectly at his cleat. ( _He needs to remind himself to thank Chenle later for delivering such a flawless pass_.)

A defender steps in to obstructs his view, but is a second too late.

Donghyuck turns at sixpence and fires toward goal. With bated breaths, the audience watches in awe as the ball soars across the expanse. The cheers are deafening as the ball tucks itself into the bottom right corner of the net effortlessly just as the ending whistle mingles with the crowd’s enthusiastic noise.

Donghyuck can hear Mark’s booming “fuck yeah!” edge nearer as the junior runs to envelop him in a hug. Chenle, with his lengthy legs and even longer strides, reaches Donghyuck first, pulling his captain into an embrace.

“You’re amazing, Lele, that pass was near perfect! Thank you so much, really!”

Chenle bows his head onto Donghyuck’s shoulder, his chest heaving as he takes a second to regulate his breathing. Chenle, according to what he’s told Donghyuck, has been playing soccer ever since he was young. He took a lapse in his senior year of high school, eventually deciding to not pick it up as a hobby in college. Apparently, someone close to him named Jisung—Chenle speaks of him avidly, but does not give specifics—encouraged him to give tryouts a shot. Chenle did not at all expect to make it on the school’s varsity team. Donghyuck does not mind the new addition, since he is admittedly better than the average freshman recruit.

“Not as amazing as you though, Hyuck!”

Donghyuck’s first thought is to say “you’re right”, but what passes his lips is something along the lines of “not yet”. While Donghyuck knows the altitude of his own skills, he does not want to contract a rep for being an outrageous egoist. Especially not towards the especially adorable Chenle, who thus far has only been kind to him.

Donghyuck encourages Chenle to go and fetch some water to cool down, and the freshman wastes no time in scampering off in search of something chilled to soothe his achy body. Alone, Donghyuck trudges towards the bench in silence, contemplating every pass and every missed chance at a goal that just occurred. Was there anything he could have done better?

Despite his overthinking, he sighs in relief. The team needed this win to maintain first in their university conference, and Donghyuck was grateful to have had the honor of scoring yet another of his game winning goals. Sure, next time the team could work on retrieving the lead quicker and more efficiently if they lose it. However, whichever way it was looked at, Donghyuck’s team just secured the three points.

“I’m starting to think you have a thing for scoring such last minute goals.”

Donghyuck cannot hide the smirk that pulls itself onto his lips. He takes a quick swig from the crimson water bottle that was so vibrant that it could only be his, before placing it back onto the bench. “Why do you say that?”

“Because,” Huang Renjun starts, discarding his notebook somewhere in the bag that was perched on his lap, “this is the fifth game this season where you specifically have scored the winning goal. Either you have immense luck, or you’re fixing the games in your favor.”

“Don’t put the latter idea past me.” Donghyuck winks playfully, taking immense delight in the way Renjun rolls his eyes severely at the action. “You’ve calculated all my stats, Renjun. I think you’d know my skill makes me too good to do anything along the lines of fixing matches.”

Huang Renjun, aside from being one of Donghyuck’s best friends, is the team’s manager, who is obligated to follow them to every match to keep statistics and organize the team roster, among other important tasks that he does flawlessly. Renjun is the best manager Donghyuck has had from all the teams he’s been on—from recreation, to travel team, to club, to high school, and finally, to college.

His expertise with his tasks may just be due to the experience Renjun has in the sport, playing throughout their freshman year as an attacker until an injury sidelined him for the year. Not wanting to lose touch with the team altogether, Renjun decided to take over the vacant spot to manage the team.

“Even the best fall prone to cheating sometimes, Donghyuck.” Renjun prods jokingly, his rosy tongue peeking out from the sheath that were his teeth. “You are human, after all.”

Renjun, as does everyone who has ever had the pleasure of viewing the ace that is Lee Donghyuck in action, knows that on the pitch he’d never cheat. He shines best when he weaves effortlessly through astonished defenders with a ball at his feet, delivering awe-inspiring shots directly to the back of the net. With the amount of talent Donghyuck has compiled in his body, all he needs is his determination and immense skill–and it might just be enough to lift a team to victory.

“But, is he human? I wouldn’t be surprised if he told me he was from another planet, because people cannot be that good at this sport,” chimes in Liu Yangyang, who Donghyuck hadn't noticed seated is to the left of Renjun. “That was a really suspenseful game, I was on the edge of my seat, bro.”

“A little too suspenseful for my liking, if I’m being honest with you.” Donghyuck plops down onto the bench, perfectly between Yangyang and Renjun, his nimble fingers beginning to unravel the knots on his cleats. “Although, that may have something to do with the fact that we didn’t have one of our best defenders on the pitch to strengthen our defense.” Donghyuck nudges Yangyang’s side.

“Ah, what can I say? Tearing a hamstring is a bitch!” Yangyang manages to find enough humor in the situation now to laugh, but without fail, Donghyuck can recall every moment of the night Yangyang tore his hamstring.

It’d only been a month or so ago, when the season had arrived at the early stages of preparation. With Donghyuck at the helm of the team, he’d arranged for both new recruits and veteran players to become acquainted with each other at a captain’s practice. Aside from the newer additions, all of Donghyuck’s favorite teammates had shown up without fail: analytic Renjun took careful note on the sidelines, star defender Mark arrived in tandem with boyfriend and midfielder Na Jaemin, and the previous season’s newest standout Liu Yangyang too was ready for practice. On a particularly late evening when Donghyuck divided the team into halves for a practice game, Yangyang went in for a slide tackle but instead collided rather harshly with one of the freshmen.

Donghyuck will never forget Yangyang’s crude screech as his body ungraciously collapsed to the ground, nor the way the youngest of the group clung to Renjun at the E.R., hot tears spilling down his cheek when the doctor informed him he’d be out for the season. Not only is soccer the sport he’d dedicated his youth to playing, but he’d come to Korea on a soccer scholarship so of course the news devastated him.

Now, Yangyang is a completely different person from the boy he’d seen that night. He watches games contently, munching on snacks he might’ve avoided if he’d be on the field. Though, with the way Yangyang is vivaciously bouncing his good knee, Donghyuck can gather that the younger is itching to be out on the pitch.

Admittedly, Donghyuck wishes he was too, since the team’s now down an experienced defender. With Jaemin pushing back from his usual midfield to play defense, and Mark retaining his position the two on their own are a power force. Truthfully though, Yangyang could have been the glue that connected the two to create a flawless fort of defense.

 _C’est la vie_ , Donghyuck supposes.

“Are you two coming with Jaemin and I to grab some food? We were thinking BBQ.” Donghyuck asks noncommittally, retrieving the pair of Adidas slides that’d been hidden towards the bottom of his bag and lurking with the extra pairs of knee-highs and shin guards.

Renjun and Yangyang are roommates, so the two share a quick glance before deciding to commit to any plans for the night. Renjun searches Yangyang’s face for any sign of hesitation or displeasure, sparing the most discreet of looks towards the boy’s wrapped knee. He frowns slightly. “Are you okay with that? Or would you rather go back to the dorm and rest?”

“I’m actually really hungry!” The words are comical when compared to the image of Yangyang currently, wrappers surrounding his lap. Donghyuck and Renjun eye them, but neither say anything. “If you’re okay with it, I’d like to go with them! I could so go for some grilled meat right about now.”

Renjun confirms their attendance by giving Donghyuck a nod. Renjun begins to collect his things, stuffing his notebooks and markers into the sleek black bag he often carries with him around campus. Yangyang does his own part, cleaning the mess he created by discarding all the plastic into the conveniently placed trash bin.

“Well, I’ll leave you two to it. I’m going to go first! I’ll see you all at the BBQ.” Donghyuck slings his bag over his shoulder, bidding a temporary farewell to the two as he walks towards the parking lot of the field. He leaves one pair of friends only to coincidentally run into another, spotting Mark and Jaemin loitering by the passenger door of Mark’s car. It’s a sight to revel in, Jaemin toying with the hem of Mark’s jersey while the elder’s cheeks tint a bright crimson. “Cut it out!” wails Donghyuck teasingly, grabbing the attention of the two lovebirds almost instantaneously. They separate and stand stationary as they wait for Donghyuck to make his way over. “My two best friends in love? This is legitimately my worst nightmare.”

“I could’ve shared! It’s not my fault you find me devastatingly cute but nothing more! Your loss, Mark’s gain, Hyuck.” teases Jaemin, shoving his best friend playfully when he draws near enough. “We’re driving you to get BBQ, right?”

“He says we like we’re co-piloting the car.” Mark finds himself laughing, but the hehe’s sputter to a halt when he notices both Donghyuck’s expressionless face and the pout that jutted from Jaemin’s bottom lip. “Sorry.” To Jaemin, then to Hyuck. “Put your stuff next to Jaem’s in the trunk, _we’ll_ take you.”

As Donghyuck shoves his duffel into the trunk of the car, a sharp holler of his name calls him to attention. He makes a remark for Jaemin and Mark to go along and wait for him inside. As the synthetic soles of Jaemin’s slides scratch against the gravel, Donghyuck can hear him make a vague comment about playing a full 90 minutes and not wanting to stand in the heat. Donghyuck does not get the chance to make a snarky reply,surprised to find his coach jogging to where he was standing. He appears distressed from a distance, but seems to look relieved as he stands before Donghyuck. “I’m glad I found you! I needed to talk to you.”

“Was it about the game? I know, it was a little messy, but we’re just trying to cope with losing Yangyang—”

“—What?” His coach seems puzzled initially, releasing a hearty laugh as he realizes what Donghyuck was assuming. He shakes his head. “No, nothing about that! Or at least not really. Sure, I’ll make the team run sprints for being behind for almost half the game.” Donghyuck groans at the thought, and his coach grins. “But, your last minute goal was a stunner. I can’t say I expect anything less of you though, Donghyuck.“

Donghyuck basks in the glow of a victor, a smile wide enough to span miles spread across his lips. “Thank you, coach.”

“You’re welcome, but that’s not what I meant to tell you.” The topic is switched quick enough to give the player whiplash. “I’m not sure what the odds are, or maybe the Heavens are looking upon us in favor, but there’s a student who recently transferred in a few weeks ago and apparently he's really good at soccer. His name is Lee Jeno, not sure if you’ve met him.”

The story and name definitely ring a bell, but Donghyuck cannot seem to recall meeting any new soccer prodigies as of late. Being the star of the team he’d remember anyone of his caliber of skill, or dare he say it, _better_. “Can’t say I’ve seen nor met him yet. But, more importantly, how good is good?” Donghyuck inquires, attempting to not sound at all interested.

“Not everyone can be you, Donghyuck, if that’s what you’re getting at.” He narrows his eyes. “He isn’t some national team level player, but he’s played travel most of his life and is good enough to replace Yangyang for the season. Plus, he’s a sophomore like you and Jaemin, so I think bringing him in would save the defense a little. I’ll be doing so no matter your opinion, but since you’re this season’s captain I wanted to know what you thought.”

“Well..” Donghyuck kicks his feet a bit, shuffling in place. He considers the slight bit of information he’s been told, weighing the pros and cons in his mind thoroughly. Considering all their defense has are two veteran players surrounded by rookies, bringing in a travel team level player fixes the situation as long as he is good as described. And on the opposing side of his thoughts, there aren’t any cons that creep into his mind. “That sounds good, do you think he can swing around practice then? We'll do some drills, get him familiar with the team.” Donghyuck is already light years away from the conversation, sorting the possible formations in his head even without knowing the player’s position. “The sooner he can start, the better.”

“About that.. There is another reason I needed to talk to you. I needed to clear with his teachers that his grades are eligible for him to play the season, and he’s passing all his classes with spectacular grades.”

Donghyuck is confused. “..So..?”

“All his classes except math. He’s barely meeting the requirement, if his grade was any lower he’d be exempt from playing.”

The captain releases a lowly sigh, sorely rubbing the bridge of his nose in exhaustion over the realized subject of conversation. “You want me to tutor him, don’t you?” His coach nods, offering him an overly cheerful thumbs up. “Coach, I don’t know..”

“Donghyuck, you’re the star of the team and an even more stellar student. You know I wouldn’t be asking you to put anything more on your plate unless absolutely necessary.” It is a heart to heart plea. Donghyuck does not want to admit it, but he knows his coach would not add any extra stress on him unless it really was something vital to the team. “Please. It doesn’t even have to be for the whole semester, just help him learn the lessons and check in with him once or twice a week. I’ll even let you two leave practice early.” Donghyuck wants to protest, because why would he ever pass on opportunities to sharpen his skills? “On Fridays.”

“Deal. I’ll do it.”

◎

“I cannot believe I have to do it,” Donghyuck groans, wallowing in his own self pity as he swallows the rest of the clear liquid that swished within the crystalline confinement of his glass. “I have to meet with him after the next practice, or something. _Unbelievable_.”

Yangyang leisurely turns the beef on the grill before him onto its opposite side, lazily gripping the sleek black tongs. He keeps a close eye on the meat but takes a split second to flicker his attention to Donghyuck. “Then why’d you agree to it if you didn’t really want to do it?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Mark is on driving duty for the night, so he sips his carbonated Pepsi through a colored straw. “Donghyuck just wanted to get off practice early on Fridays.”

“I’m not really obligated to be at all the practices, but I show up anyway and I could see why you’d want to leave early on Fridays. I agree with Mark.” Renjun looks to the eldest with his empty glass in hand. An expectant Mark rolls his eyes, exasperatedly reaching for the bottle tucked safely beside him to pour some into the glass for Renjun. “I don’t blame you, Hyuck.”

As Renjun and Mark swap ideas regarding how to get out of practice, Donghyuck sighs. “It’s not just about practice!”

That is only _somewhat_ it.

Jaemin wags his index finger in Donghyuck’s direction, a coy smile curled onto his lips. “That isn’t totally it!” says Jaemin, and the wondrously hazy gaze in his eyes tells Donghyuck that he’d figured him out. “Donghyuck is a total coach’s pet, and he can’t ever say no if it involves the team at all. You’re headstrong in everything, but will succumb to anything if it’s soccer or study related.” He’s right, and Donghyuck’s eminent silence only confirms it. Jaemin releases a victory shout, downing the fruity drink in the bottle he holds close to his chest. “Na Jaemin knows everything about his friends.” He sways in his seat, shimmying his shoulders. “Jaemin is always on a roll.”

Jaemin is the type to pester Donghyuck whenever he’s correct regarding topics such as these. It is irritating, but subconsciously it’s exactly why Donghyuck adores his best friend. It’s comforting that someone knows him well enough to be able to point out what he’s feeling even if he’s not open about it.

But, after Donghyuck has played a full game and is potentially hungry enough to eat his plate, maybe his patience is waning thin after Jaemin’s comments. “Keep dancing like that and I’ll lock you out of our dorm tonight.”

The weak threat on Donghyuck’s behalf does not seem to faze Jaemin. Rather, it does the opposite. The blonde snuggles into an unsuspecting Mark’s side, sticking his tongue out at Donghyuck teasingly. “Too bad I have a boyfriend with his own dorm.” Mark seems content with the answer, but within a mere few seconds Jaemin reconsiders his own reply. “Actually, I think I’d rather sleep in the comfort of my own bed. Mark snores, and there are some days I can deal with it, but after playing a full 90?” He shakes his head. “Not today.”

Mark whines from beside him, but is placated as Jaemin softly steadies his face with both palms, and plants a kiss on the boy’s cheek.

“Whatever, have any of you ever met this Lee Jeno?” Donghyuck powers through the subject of his feelings, moving the conversation in a slightly similar direction. Yangyang shakes his head, telling Donghyuck the name doesn’t sound familiar to him.

“Now that you bring up the name, I think Jeno and I are in English composition together?” Mark mentions, scratching his head as if to remember the boy better. “He’s really nice and really smart too. He sits in the front and answers a lot of questions.”

“Oh! Now I think I know who you’re talking about! A few students in one of my labs were talking about him recently after he came and visited somebody in the class! He’s quite the topic,” agrees Yangyang, placing the tongs that’d been in his grip to the side carelessly. “I agree with Mark, he seemed really nice from when I saw him.”

“So, he won’t be giving me too much trouble then, I’d hope? I don’t want to have to spend so much time tutoring him when I have my own priorities.”

“And what are those? Studying for tests you’ll pass, and over-practicing for games you’ll score in?” Renjun has the audacity to snort, and perch one eyebrow in curiosity. “You have to learn to loosen up on things, Hyuck.”

“I agree with Renjun,” Mark inputs, his tone of voice softer than the way he’d usually converse with Donghyuck. “I know your grades and soccer are everything to you, and that’s fine, but you can take a little bit of time to do things that aren’t related to the two.” Mark’s eyes drift towards Yangyang, who’d begun to pass the plates out so that the five of them could satisfy their grumbling stomachs. “Although, tutoring a soccer player doesn’t really sound like much of a break from either, but..”

“It isn’t, but it’s the best of both worlds! Sounds perfect for you, doesn’t it, Hyuckie?” Jaemin’s voice drips of honey, and he wiggles his eyebrows at his best friend suggestively. “Maybe it’d be even more perfect if Jeno was really cute, huh? Maybe you wouldn’t be so uptight about it then.”

Donghyuck’s foot is seconds away from instinctively jerking towards Jaemin’s knee but Renjun, who sits beside him, squeezes his arm. “Shut up, Nana,” Donghyuck grumbles, not in the mood for his best friend to nudge him in the direction of considering to date someone. He didn’t want to, nor did he have the time to, being an honor student, a tutor, and captain of the soccer team. “Maybe I should take time to do other things, you’re right. But what I absolutely do not have time for is to date anyone.”

“Don’t be upset, Hyuck.” Yangyang consoles him from two seats down by placing a generous portion of meat onto his plate. He sends it down to Donghyuck via Renjun, and he cannot lie when he says the delicious aroma of the food instantly calms him down. “I think you’re doing a really cool job.”

Donghyuck beams at the youngest and newest addition to their friend group. As he bites into the food, he decides then and there, under the hazy lights of the room the five sat comfortably in, that he trusts Yangyang— _and Yangyang only_!

◎

Donghyuck always arrives first to practice.

It is an unspoken rule, and one that is not entirely enforced, but has now settled into something the team expects. He is the captain, and if he wanted he could saunter onto the pitch when the rest of the team does. The youngest members are usually expected to arrive first, carrying water coolers and mesh bags with balls to pump air into. Then, they’d trudge back to the cars that transported them to get their own duffle bags.

When Donghyuck was younger and nowhere near captain material, he’d always resented the captains who allowed the rookies to do all the work. Now that he is a captain and has the opportunity to lead a team of players younger and older than him alike, he wants to set a good example. He wants to be a respectable captain, one that others can trust and look up to.

( _Though, he does not necessarily lift a hand for everything. Admittedly, he believes in some sort of hierarchy, but he occasionally helps set up cones for drills or fill air into the equipment_.)

To Donghyuck, part of being a “respectable captain” of sorts, is arriving early to greet the rest of the team.

So he is especially surprised, to say the least, when he spots a figure from a distance. Said figure is perched upon a soccer ball as if it were a chair, lazily bent over as he ties a double knot into his cleats. Cleats that Donghyuck is sure he could spot from a mile a way, with the especially fluorescent combination of neon yellow and electric blue. He looks too well built to be a freshman like Chenle, yet perhaps not quite old enough to be of Mark’s age or older.

Donghyuck is smart, some might say intelligent, but he does not put two and two together even as he draws closer.

The boy must have impeccable hearing and heard Donghyuck coming, because suddenly he stands at attention and vivaciously waves to him as if they are friends. “Hi! You must be Donghyuck, right?”

It might be one of the most simple questions Donghyuck has ever been asked, however it is almost as if his lips are sewn shut. Not a single reply comes out. The only correct answer to this question is yes, but as Donghyuck stands before this boy he begins to question it all.

Question one: _was Donghyuck really his name_?

He _did_ go by Haechan for a year or two when he was younger, because a senior player already shared the name and they needed to differentiate. 

His brain is jumbled.

In fear that there won’t be another word to live up to the beauty that is this stranger, the only way that Donghyuck’s mind can think of describing him is _hot_. He’s taller than Donghyuck, with a face that is constructed perfectly enough to be considered godly. His hair is a freshly dyed shade of blonde, messily situated above his head like an angelic halo.

Worse—and _yes_ , it somehow manages to get worse—Donghyuck notices that this boy seems to have a habit of rolling the pads of his fingertips up, up, and across the expanse of his biceps. An effect of this is that the sleeves of his white tee are rolled all the way up to his shoulder, exposing his incredibly toned arms.

“Hello? Earth to Donghyuck?” The gentle prod from the boy is enough to render the captain back to consciousness. It takes a plethora of Donghyuck’s willpower to look him in the eyes, and he immediately wishes he hadn’t. This boy is gazing at him with the most amiable twinkle in his eyes, his head cocked ever so slightly to the side. “I’m Lee Jeno! I think coach told you I’d be showing up to practice today? I seem to be early though so I might’ve misread the text..” When Jeno gets no immediate reply, he tries again. “You are Donghyuck, right? I was told to look for someone with ashy brown hair, so I just figured..”

Oh. _Oh_.

“Sorry, just a little distracted today. Yeah, I’m Donghyuck. I’m sorry, Jeno, it totally slipped my mind that you'd be coming today.” That is the honest truth. Donghyuck absolutely had not even spared a single thought about Jeno since the dinner with his friends a few nights prior. “But you are a little early, yeah. I’m usually the only one ever here around this time. For next time, you can come a little later if you’d like.”

“Oh, I don’t mind!” And there Jeno goes, offering him a smile bright enough to rival the beautifully radiant sun suspended in the sky. It makes Donghyuck itch in rage, because Jeno being cute, handsome, and awfully kind does not add up. “If you’re the only one ever here this early, I can keep you company! That’s not an issue.”

And who said he wants his company? Why would Donghyuck willingly want to spend any more time with this incredibly handsome boy than he already needs to?

“I’m used to waiting out here by myself, so don’t worry about it. But now that you’ve mentioned us spending unnecessary time together..” Donghyuck turns to face Jeno with a completely different demeanor than the one he’d had on moments ago. “I’m supposed to be tutoring you, right? What’s with that?”

“Ah, well..” Jeno’s laugh is one brought forth by his nerves. He shifts awkwardly in place, his cleats sinking into the lush earth. “I’m not bad at math, really.”

Donghyuck begs to differ. “The fact that I’m supposed to be tutoring you says otherwise, don’t you think? Or are you just faking this to get closer to me?” The latter part of the sentence stuck out like a sore thumb, so Donghyuck assumes Jeno would sense it was sarcasm.

He does not.

His words are hesitant, as if he were tipping around cautiously. “Donghyuck, you seem nice and all, but I haven’t met you at all before today.. I’m not sure why you’d think I’d be faking something so serious regarding my grades just to talk to you?”

Donghyuck feels a prickle of trivial disbelief. Jeno’s reasoning contains no flaw, yet Donghyuck allows his ego to bruise under the weight of the boy’s words. “That.. was a joke..” he remarks in a sputter, quickly attempting to brush past the subject. “You know what? Whatever, my point is..”

Familiar laughs permeate the air, and as they reach Donghyuck’s ears he instinctively breaks away from Jeno. “We’ll talk about this specifically later, this conversation is not over.” clarifies Donghyuck, pointing his finger at a wide eyed Jeno. “We’re meeting at the café across from the library 15 minutes after today’s practice. Do not be late.” There's a slight pause. “And as per, uh, captain’s rule, pull your sleeves down. No tanks during practice, only.. regular sleeves.”

If Jeno means to reply, Donghyuck does not offer him the time of day to do so. His embarrassment causes him break into a vicious sprint instantaneously, turning his back to Jeno and following the vibrations that he knows will lead him towards the owners of such boisterous laughter.

He huffs over, practically stomping. “You’re all such terrible friends! You didn’t tell me.”

Jaemin, Mark, Renjun, and Yangyang all turn their attention towards their seemingly furious captain. Donghyuck certainly appears frenzied, an irate glint in his eyes that pairs especially well with how tightly his arms were crossed above his chest.

“And hello to you too, captain.” Mark’s index and middle fingers stitch together to offer a salute in Donghyuck’s direction.

Mark ignores his best friend’s wrathful gaze, however his boyfriend interacts with it.

“Tell you what, Hyuckie?”

“About Jeno.” Donghyuck’s lips pull into a straight line.

Renjun laughs. “That’s incredibly vague. What about him?”

Donghyuck glances behind himself anxiously. The information that plans to pass his lips is confidential, and absolutely could not be heard by anyone else in the immediate proximity. “That he’s _hot_!”

“Bring that up with Yangyang and Mark, I didn’t have concrete proof he was attractive. Not to brag, but what did I tell you? If he was cute, I knew you’d be less uptight about it!” Jaemin already has an unmistakable grin curled upon his lips, and he curiously takes a peek behind Donghyuck to capture a glimpse of this Jeno. Once Jaemin catches sight of him, he turns back to the rest of the group with disbelief painted upon his features. “Is that him? Mark, baby, do not take this the wrong way, but he is really really cute.”

Mark, now plagued with curiosity, side steps to look. He’s squinting, and Donghyuck bets it’s because he doesn’t have his contacts on. “The blonde guy, right? I’m always stuck staring at the back of his head in class.” He sounds infinitely fascinated. “Now, seeing his face though. I think, for lack of words, all I can say is that I agree with Jaem. He’s really handsome, Hyuck.” Mark rubs the back of his neck, nervous laughter filling the air. “Being that good looking isn’t fair I don’t think.”

“Well, he’s not my type, which is probably why telling you he was hot didn’t come to mind.” Yangyang states, seemingly the least interested. Yet, he gestures for the boys to move the slightest bit so that he too could see just who his friends were currently raving about. “Maybe if he had darker hair..” Renjun, who is beside him, nods his head in agreement with Yangyang’s critique.

At this point, essentially all his friends had made their interest embarrassingly blatant by their unnecessarily lengthy stares. He’s flailing his arms around, and his next words sound hypocritical. “Stop looking at him, it’ll make him suspicious!” whines Donghyuck, his eyes widening as he frantically waves for them to stop.

However, Jaemin has the audacity to wink. “Then here’s the only way to make him less suspicious..”

Donghyuck knows he should be afraid of Jaemin’s ability to be unapologetically bold. Said skill was how he landed the somewhat reserved yet incredibly sought after Mark Lee, a spot in every game’s starting lineup, and free coffee for a year at the university’s cafe with the mention of his name. Essentially, Jaemin is Donghyuck just with smoother moves.

Jaemin cups his palms around his mouth, his voice projecting across the field. Knowing very well what his best friend was preparing to do, Donghyuck can feel his stomach swirl. “Hey, Lee Jeno! Lee! Je-no!” This is to certainly capture the new recruit’s attention, and once Jaemin has it, he vivaciously motions for the boy to come over.

Donghyuck, against his will, finds his head craning in an almost unnatural position to watch Jeno’s arrival. Even the way he jogs is unnaturally pleasing to the eye, his fluffed hair bouncing resiliently with each step. Donghyuck has to turn away, as he knows irritation will inevitably stab at him if he continues to look.

“Hi, Jeno!” Jaemin’s tone is entirely too welcoming, and there’s a sort of gentle friendliness spilling from his eyes. “We heard from Hyuckie here—” Jaemin slings an arm across Donghyuck’s shoulders, both to bridge the gap that had lingered between them and force the boy to stand directly across from Jeno. “—that you’re new to the team, huh?”

There’s an equal amount of kindness in Jeno’s smile. “Yeah, I heard from Chenle that you guys were in need of another team member for defense, and since I’ve played before..” His sentence trails off a bit, as if he were considering what to say. “I wanted to get back into shape anyway, and I’ve kind of missed soccer.” Jeno gestures to himself humbly. “So here I am!”

“What position do you play?” asks Mark.

“Preferably right back, but when I used to play my coach would kind of put me wherever defense wise.”

“Hey, that’s perfect! I play—” Yangyang’s initial half of the sentence is full of excitement, until midway, where he sorely corrects himself. He coughs. “—when I’m not injured, I play right back.”

“I heard about your leg.. Feel better, man.” Even after Yangyang offers a half-hearted smile and tells him not to worry, there is a slight frown on Jeno’s face. By his mannerisms, even Hyuck can tell Jeno feels apologetic that he even plays the same position as Yangyang. It only furthers the idea that Jeno is his replacement, which was something Yangyang had been struggling to deal with.

Donghyuck feels the need to change the subject, and as the team’s designated mood maker, he does so. “Can one of you help me set up cones? We’re doing drills today.”

Donghyuck should have known.

“I’ll do it!” volunteers Jeno enthusiastically, not even allowing Donghyuck to entirely finish his sentence.

The fact that Jeno interrupts the captain as he speaks makes Donghyuck wants to tsk in disappointment. That is already strike number three in his head.

Strike one is the fact that Donghyuck has to tutor him to begin with, especially when apparently he does not even need the help. Strike two, obviously, is how devastatingly good looking and amiable Jeno is. It’s maddening.

Jaemin is snickering in the back, as is the rest of the group as they watch Donghyuck slink away towards the equipment.. with Jeno close by his side.

◎

As soon as practice wrapped up, he’d immediately headed to the locker room to change into something more suitable for encasing himself in the universal safe haven known as the café. He’d told Jeno they’d meet directly after practice was over and he intended to keep his word and not even be a few minutes late.

He's in such a rush that he practically stumbles out as he buttons his jeans. Not to mention Jaemin’s hasty screams to mention his name at checkout to receive a free drink, like he was some big time influencer with a promo code.

As if Donghyuck would ever subject himself to using Jaemin’s name for a free drink!

He laughs about the thought as it takes him a good few minutes or so to jog across campus. He wonders just why exactly he’d chosen the café that was the furthest distance from the field, and reminds himself to tell Jeno they’d find somewhere else to meet if they had to keep this tutoring situation up.

Donghyuck pushes past the café’s double doors, scanning the floor plan for a devastatingly handsome blonde sophomore. He’s embarrassed to admit how winded he feels once he spots Jeno, nestled in the café’s crevice and sipping some caffeine concoction with way too much billowy foam. He’s staring at the cup wistfully with his chin resting on the palm of his hand.

Donghyuck is convinced someone needs to tip Jeno off that life is not a photoshoot, and he cannot appear so handsome by glaring at the rim of a cup. It must defy some law of physics!

“Jeno, hi. You’re.. early?” Donghyuck slings his book bag across the chair’s back, taking a seat. He’d ran here to ensure that he’d be here before Jeno, but it turns out Jeno must have dressed even quicker.

Unbelievable. Of _course_ he did.

Jeno seems to have not expected him, because there’s foam all over his lips and he looks quite disoriented. He takes a second to wipe it all off and slip an apology before replying. “Hyuck! Hi!” Only friends call him Hyuck, but he smiles painfully and pretends to not notice. “Yeah, I figured it’d be better to get here early to grab a table.”

Donghyuck glances around, taking note of the number of free tables surrounding them. “Jeno, you do know it’s 6:30, and not many people are here at this time on a Tuesday night?”

“Well.. I wanted to make sure we’d have a table, regardless.” Jeno slides a cup over to him, and Donghyuck observes the snowy white drink carefully. “When I said I was coming here to meet you, Jaemin told me his friends get drinks for free if they mention his name, something about some bet with a barista. He said you like vanilla frappes, so I ordered you that.. Is that okay?”

It’s more than okay, but Donghyuck makes a mental note to tell Jaemin to not give out his coffee orders to handsome strangers. “Yeah.” Donghyuck’s response is curt. He adores vanilla frappes and Jeno even ordered it with extra whipped cream, just how Donghyuck likes it. “That’s fine, thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Cue Jeno’s friendly smile. “Really, it’s the least I could do if you’re taking time to come out here and help me..”

“About that!” Donghyuck momentarily pushes away the nagging thoughts of how irritatingly handsome Jeno is and how he dislikes this situation entirely, to immerse himself into having a regular conversation with him. “Coach set up the plan with the learning center that we’d leave early every Friday for tutoring, and if you need additional help we can set up another day. But, explain yourself, because there has to be more to this than you’re letting on.”

“So, you know how I’m a transfer and all? I’m in honors math, so I thought I’d be able to handle coming in halfway through a chapter. I told my professor I didn’t need any extra help, but then I failed a recent quiz.. And then another.”

Donghyuck’s lips pop off the straw of his drink, and for the time being he discards it to the side of the table. “So basically, you’re almost failing your honors math class because you were too prideful to ask for help?” He leans in subconsciously, admittedly intrigued by the hilarity of the situation.

“I guess you could describe it like that, more or less.” Jeno produces this airy sort of laugh, one that reaches the moon-like curves of his eyes. “I enjoy doing math, I think it’s just the timing and learning everything at once that caught me off guard. A session or two to catch me up should fix this, really.”

“We’ll see how much you enjoy math when I’m done tutoring you, Lee Jeno. I won’t believe that you’re not as disastrous as you say until you can prove your immense math skills.” Donghyuck reclines in his seat, folding his arms. “If it’ll only take a meeting or two to get you all caught up, then we can tell coach that this is an even more exclusive agreement than we’d thought. And here I was, thinking I’d have to tutor you for the whole season.”

“You don’t have to tell coach anything, really.” Jeno’s tapping his fingertips together, his words giving off a certain quality of bashfulness that causes Donghyuck to give the boy a second glance.

He obviously does not follow. “And what exactly do you mean by that?”

“Well..” Jeno breathes out. “I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad situation, considering we get to leave early on Fridays. Even if I’m eventually all caught up, you can tutor me whenever I lose my way.”

“I like order, Jeno. I don’t want to be missing some practices because you don’t understand the lesson, but staying for others because you think you’ll be able to pull together whatever intelligence you have to understand. What will we do the weeks you understand? Sit and drink coffee for an hour?”

As if Donghyuck flipped a switch, Jeno’s smile diverts from one that was sheepish to one that can be best described as kittenish. His gaze is different, the crescents of his eyes now holding an incredibly flirtatious twinkle. It affects Donghyuck enough that an unwelcome chill surges down his spine, making him shiver. “I don’t think sitting and drinking coffee with you for an hour is such a bad idea, actually.”

“Lee Jeno, are you flirting with me?”

“Depends!” Jeno leans in, and Donghyuck wonders just where he pulled this sudden burst of confidence. “Is it working?”

Donghyuck sputters, staring at Jeno incredulously. There is no answer on his behalf as he processes the situation. Donghyuck is a confident person by anyone’s standards, but is reduced to a bumbling mess the minute Jeno aims any blatantly flirtatious expressions towards him. “It is not working, absolutely not! How can you even think of flirting with me when I’m your tutor, and not to mention the captain of your soccer team?”

Jeno shrugs, taking a sip from his iced Americano that’d been abandoned on the outskirts of the table. “Maybe I find those in positions of power attractive.” A pause, and another grin. “Or maybe it’s just you.”

Donghyuck’s lips are perfectly curved into an ‘o’. His eyes dash from observing the bumps on the cafe’s brick wall, to scrutinizing the manner in which the barista is fumbling with the can of whipped cream. He would gladly settle his gaze upon anything but the adonis who sits across from him.

“Wow! Would you look at the time!” An entirely fake gasp slips out, and he begins to gather his belongings. His hands are trembling, but he ignores it. “I think I actually have somewhere to be! I’ll see you at practice tomorrow?”

There is an awful amount of confusion in Jeno’s eyes, and the way they sparkle with confusion makes Hyuck’s head throb. People are not supposed to look beautiful when they do not have a clue of what is going on, that is just not fair. “Donghyuck, tomorrow is Sunday, we don’t have practice!”

“Then make sure to practice by yourself! You’re new anyway, go familiarize your cleats with the uh.. Grass.”

He stumbles out the door before he has the chance to see the way Jeno’s lips spread into a soft, adoring smile, spared solely for Donghyuck.

◎

Donghyuck, from that first meeting at the coffee shop, begins to see a lot more of Jeno. Perhaps more of him than Donghyuck originally thought he’d bargained for.

Since they are on the same team, it was a given that Donghyuck would see Jeno before, during, and after practices. And on Fridays, they’d spend an additional hour together. Considering they initially had no mutual acquaintances nor any classes together, Donghyuck thought that’d be the extent.

He _cannot_ have been more wrong.

Donghyuck’s group of friends makes a conscientious decision to adopt Jeno into their circle. They’d all taken a liking to him immediately and found no fault in inviting him to their soccer and non-soccer related outings alike.

That means Jeno is everywhere. He accompanies Mark in visiting Jaemin and Donghyuck’s dorm. That leaves Donghyuck to deal with Jeno while Jaemin and Mark play house across the room. When all of Donghyuck’s friends head to the library to study for upcoming exams, so does Jeno, who always opts to sit to the left of Renjun.

Renjun even lets Jeno hug him! Donghyuck gets clobbered by the upside of Renjun’s hand if he even attempts to offer the boy a friendly hug, but with Jeno, it’s free real estate? If that’s not enough, Jeno also manages to hijack the group’s post-game dinner. And Yangyang, who’d seemed less enthused about the new addition than the rest, becomes close enough to not be bothered when Jeno offers him friendly tips on how to grill the meat better—and of course it was delicious, because somehow, Jeno is handsome and can cook well. Donghyuck is tired of him.

After a particularly gruesome tutoring session with a freshman transfer, Donghyuck trudges his weary body towards his dorm. It’s just past midday, which automatically means that Jaemin is probably at Mark’s. That means the dorm is available for Donghyuck to savor all by himself, and he has grand plans for his time alone. What he has in mind for the rest of the night is cooking a fanciful dinner of cup ramen, then getting a lot of beauty sleep.

But as Donghyuck reaches to unlock the dorm, he hears a noise.

Rather, several noises.

Donghyuck groans loudly, his hip slamming against the door as he falls into the room. “Jaemin, I thought we agreed you’d keep your make out sessions with Mark in his dorm!”

He does not see the eye damaging sight he expected.

Instead, he is face to face with something worse. Appearing comfortable and cozy in the center of the dorm are Jaemin and Jeno, clad in funky colored pajamas, fluffy headbands, and—Donghyuck hates to see it—face masks.

“Hi, Hyuck!” Jeno waves. With the way his incredibly lean body is collapsed against Donghyuck’s perfectly made bed and how he vivaciously beckons him over, one might just assume he owns the place. Last time Donghyuck checked, Jeno doesn’t pay for this dorm’s fees. ( _Then again, neither does Donghyuck, since he’s on an athletic scholarship_.) “Do you want to do face masks with us?”

Donghyuck ignores Jeno’s question altogether. “Jaemin! Can we talk? Outside? Now?” His voice is shrill, an instantaneous giveaway for the prickling stress that threatens a meltdown. Jaemin, an expert in the body language of his friends, notices and politely excuses himself from Jeno.

The door clicks behind the two softly. Jaemin slumps against it, curiously eyeing Donghyuck. “What’s wrong? Bad day?”

“Since when do you have bonding time with Lee Jeno?” His words contain an unintended amount of bite, sounding slightly accusatory.

“Hyuckie,” The way Jaemin draws out his nickname is endearing, and pairs well with the honey that drips from his eyes. “Are you jealous of Jeno?”

“Of course not! Why would you even say that?” Donghyuck’s scoff is pretentious, and he avoids focusing on the condescending look in Jaemin’s eyes. “Sure, he might be extremely handsome, unnecessarily kind all the time, an honors student, and really good at soccer, but why would I be jealous of him? I’m all those things too!” And more is left unsaid, but implied.

“Yeah, alright. Just stop getting so worked up that’s he’s sitting in our dorm. I invited him over because Mark went shopping with Renjun and you were tutoring. He’s good company. Though I suppose you know that, you do tutor him.”

“Good company, my ass! He’s my mortal enemy, and I want a 24 hour notice for whenever you think of inviting him over.” Donghyuck is stubborn, and his stance on Jeno is final.

Donghyuck and Jaemin hear the door creak open before seeing it do so. First, a head peeks out curiously, two intrigued eyes buzzing between the pair. Second, said figure progresses to wedging their body between the crevice of the door and its frame.

“Hi, guys. I hope I’m not interrupting anything important?” says Jeno, his body slanted against the door frame. “But Nana, the timer for the cookies just went off! I figured you’d want them warm.”

 _Cookies_?

Donghyuck is gearing himself to drag Jaemin through the dirt with this new knowledge. Not only is Jaemin having face mask relaxation time with Jeno, but also baking chocolate chip cookies with him too! Hyuck does not receive the opportunity to throw any shade at his best friend, because Jaemin is all too quickly heading towards the delectable scent of freshly baked cookies.

This leaves Jeno and Donghyuck alone to linger in the confined corridor, their shyness and pride mixing into a delicious excuse to not look nor talk to each other.

Until Jeno very cautiously tiptoes around the silence. “Are you going to come in and do face masks, Hyuck?”

“No.”

“Oh! Okay.” Donghyuck notices how Jeno’s shoulders level at his response. It may be a lie for him to say that the way Jeno seems entirely deflated does not affect him,as if Donghyuck was the liquidator of both Jeno’s happiness and hopefulness, ruthlessly aiming to crush his heart. “Will you at least have some cookies? I baked them from scratch!”

When Donghyuck takes too long to deny the baked snack, Jeno assumes that the answer could only be yes. Leading with said thought, Jeno recklessly reaches for Donghyuck’s hand, gripping firmly as he pulls him into the dorm.

Jeno’s hands appear rough and calloused, but as Donghyuck’s bare fingertips brush across them fleetingly he comes to find that the skin there is overwhelmingly smooth. He wants to ignore how Jeno’s hands mesh harmoniously with his own, how his hands are the ideal size to cradle Donghyuck‘s own.

( _He can’t_.)

( _And he doesn’t_.)

◎

“Jeno, Donghyuck! You’re dismissed for today!”

The two had been on opposing halves of the field when the calls of their names sliced unceremoniously through the silence. The day’s practice consisted of a practice match, the team divided between Donghyuck’s half and Mark’s half. Before, all they’d heard were the clashing of cleats together and the occasional thump a body made as it collapsed momentarily to the ground.

Now, childish kissy noises echo throughout the field as Jeno follows Donghyuck to the locker room through the parted sea of their fellow teammates. Jaemin, worst of all, is grinning madly at the pair, bumping shoulders with those around him as though he knew something they didn’t.

Donghyuck finds solace in the quiet of the locker room, in disbelief at how much of a nightmare his college team is.

Duffels being unzipped and untied cleats clattering onto a bench are the only sounds Donghyuck hears now, and the familiarity of it all calms him. He dresses in silence, stripping the green pinnie and discarding it along with the rest of his clothes.

“So, I was thinking..” Jeno begins. Instinctively, Donghyuck turns to face him. He almost immediately turns away once his eyes catch sight of Jeno, shirt abandoned, tying a double knot on a fresh pair of track pants. He knows he’ll blush. “Maybe instead of going to the café to study, we go somewhere else? It’s almost 7 anyway, so what if we grabbed dinner?” The way Jeno rambles with his suggestion without hearing Donghyuck’s feelings on it is endearing. “Hey, I know this really good ramen place we can go to!”

Donghyuck wants to scoff in his face, to outright refuse to go out with him.

However, he doesn’t.

“Lee Jeno, are you asking me out? Because if I didn’t know better, this sounds a lot like a date.”

“No, no. Donghyuck, this is a study date. Very different from a romantic date. The only romance that’ll be going on will be between me and those four pages of math problems.”

◎

“Jeno, I’m not sure how much studying we’re going to be able to get done in here?”

They are standing in the doorway of the establishment he’s been brought to. Jeno peers around in hopes of snagging a table, while Donghyuck appears skeptical. The entire issue is not really Jeno’s interesting idea to study in the center of a busy ramen exchange, but that there is nowhere for them to sit.

It is like Jeno can sense his worry. “It’ll be okay, Hyuckie! The workers here know me pretty well, I think they’ll get me a table once they see me!”

If they see him, thinks Donghyuck. “You have connections here, huh? Are you pulling out the stops, Lee Jeno?”

“Only for you.” It’s incredibly cheesy, and based off the smile upon his lips, Jeno seems to think he’s done well by replying with this. He does not get to see Donghyuck flinch at his words, because he is suddenly being flagged down by a worker or two in a flurry of waving arms and pushing hands. The employees engage Jeno in a vivacious conversation as they guide him and a trailing Donghyuck to a table being cleared just for the two of them.

Donghyuck only makes inquiries once the two are seated and menus have been passed to them. The menu is not extensive, but there’s enough of a variety for Donghyuck’s stomach to grumble stubbornly. Truth be told, he is starving, not having had anything to eat for hours before practice. And if Jeno hadn’t brought him out he might not have eaten until the odd hours of the night, probably stabbing at some of Jaemin’s leftovers minutes past 2 AM.

They both agree on ordering two bowls of tonkotsu. Jeno is more plain with his order, only asking additionally for chicken to be added, while Donghyuck orders his with a hoard of add-ons. He asks politely for extra bean sprouts, and Jeno smiles fondly at him while he does so.

Once the menus are whisked away from the table and bubbly beverages are replacing their spots, Jeno leans in, intrigued. “So.. extra-extra bean sprouts, huh?”

“Hey, don’t knock my taste in add-ons until you’ve tried them, Lee Jeno! Bean sprouts are delicious, I’m convinced that’s how I became such an amazing soccer player.” Donghyuck wags a playful finger in Jeno’s direction before abandoning all fake offense to sip his soda. “While you’re curious about my food choices, I’m more interested in how you have connections here. Did you work here, or something?”

“It’s kind of a long story and I don’t really want to bore you, or anything.”

“I’m not going to be bored, I’m asking you to tell me.” Donghyuck insists, rapping his fingertips against the table. “Let’s hear it, because we know I have the time.”

With Donghyuck’s encouragement, Jeno seems to settle, his shoulders leveling and that tiny half-smile wiggling its way back onto his lips. “Well,” he begins, “I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but next door there’s an animal shelter. Since moving to Seoul from Incheon for high school I’ve always lived in this area, so whenever I had to earn volunteering points, I’d come to the animal shelter.”

“Nothing about this is boring, Jeno. You’re telling me the story of every high schooler ever who had to do volunteer hours to graduate. Are you going to tell me that you were so hungry after volunteering, you’d come and get ramen here?”

Jeno, not in the mood to tolerate Donghyuck’s know-it-all mentality, mimics him before continuing to explain. “No, but maybe if you’d let me finish?”

“..Go on.”

“Now, this is gonna sound silly, but I swear on my life it happened. One day I was walking home from volunteering, when I saw a bunch of people gathered by a tree a few blocks down. I was curious so when I got closer, I saw there was a cat stuck in the tree. The crowd was mostly little kids with their parents, and some of the elderly ladies from the area, and nobody was moving to try and get the cat down.”

There’s nothing particularly boring about the story, and Donghyuck is sad that Jeno had been attempting to brush it off. Rather, the effect for Donghyuck is quite the opposite, as he's fascinated by whatever Jeno has to say next simply because he looks so excited to recount it.

“So, I climbed the tree to get it down. The owner of the cat just happened to be the owner of this ramen shop, and she gave me this honorary gift of ramen for life as a thank you. But, your initial guess wasn’t completely off. In the summer after I volunteered, I’d usually come and get something to eat, then help serve and take orders so the ladies could rest.”

“You’re joking, right?”

Donghyuck did not mean to say it aloud, but he does. He is just so completely shell-shocked to peel back yet another layer of Lee Jeno, only to uncover that every portion of him is amiable and not at all ill mannered. Jeno really is the most perfect and well-rounded boy Donghyuck has ever met, however it’s no longer something of an irritant to him. Rather, he finds that every aspect of Jeno is commendable, and that it’s becoming increasingly harder and harder to dislike him at all.

The way Jeno sways his head from the left to the right is particularly cute, as is the way he juts out his lips into a pout. “Nope!” He makes a point to pop the ‘p’. “Anyway, I obviously come here because I get free and very delicious ramen, but also because the workers are always so nice to me. I did one good thing a year or so ago and they continue to show me kindness, even when I’m not doing anything in the present to deserve it.”

The words make Donghyuck sigh. “Jeno, don’t let this inflate your ego and don’t overthink anything I say. This’ll be the only time I compliment you like this, but I want you to listen to me. Are you listening?” Jeno nods. “You are a good person, and you deserve all the good that comes to you. We haven’t known each other for an incredibly long time, but since I’ve known you I haven’t always been kind. Regardless, you’ve never not had a smile for me whenever we’ve met. You deserve free ramen for life, and so much more.”

Donghyuck can see the sincere glimmer in Jeno’s eyes at his words. He looks touched, and Hyuck wonders if anyone’s explicitly expressed this sort of kindness towards Jeno. There is a wide gap between showing compassion to a person versus describing it to them in words; Donghyuck would gamble that the latter is more effective, which is why he makes it a point to tell Jeno this.

“Thank you, Donghyuck. That means a lot coming from you.”

The moment is interrupted by one of the kind ladies who’d shuffled over from the kitchen, balancing the trays that contained Jeno and Donghyuck’s dinners. Seeing that she is struggling, Jeno jumps quickly to his feet to relieve her of the weights in her hands. She offers thanks to Jeno just as he and Donghyuck offer thanks to her. He moves the tray to the center of the table so that both of them could easily access their bowls. Donghyuck, allowing his hunger to control his actions, swoops in to take his ramen.

“Hyuck, it’s hot, be careful.”

Donghyuck does not get the chance to heed Jeno’s warning because it comes too late. The bowl is scalding, and he’d had the terrible idea to cup the entirety of the porcelain. When the heat comes in contact with the skin of his palms, He instinctively jolts, dramatically dropping the bowl onto the table. Luckily, nothing breaks, but with the bowl lying on its side, the contents do spill out. Donghyuck pouts, cradling his burned hand while he stares at the flopped noodles with longing. “My ramen..”

Jeno’s motionless for a second, blinking at Donghyuck from across the table. His eyes flicker from the pool of broth on the table to the crimson color on the surface of Donghyuck’s hand. Then, he moves. “Are you okay? Let me see.” Donghyuck begins to protest that it isn’t that big of a deal, as he’s certainly faced much worse on the field, but Jeno persists. Of course it is not life threatening, but as Jeno is holding his hand close to his face for inspection Donghyuck admits that the area of the scald does seem quite inflamed. In fact, he can even see a miniscule bump beginning to bubble up and it is sore to the touch.

“It’s just a superficial burn,” says Jeno, placing Donghyuck’s hand back onto the table gently. “you’re going to be fine, but I’ll be right back.”

Jeno quickly scurries in the opposite direction, abandoning Donghyuck for the time being. He’s left alone with unfortunately his own thoughts and a throbbing hand, however the quiet allows him to genuinely reflect on his surroundings. The ambience of the shop is homey, as is expected of a restaurant of this caliber, and the customers all seem to have genuine happiness grace their demeanors. They’re fleeting thoughts, but Donghyuck is reminded of Jeno in every smile, and why Jeno comes here so often just makes so much sense in that moment. Before Donghyuck can delve into why such a homey space reminds him so much of Jeno, the boy of the hour returns. He’s almost fumbling with all the items he’s carrying, and Donghyuck wants to move to help him but for some reason does not.

“I hope you didn’t miss me too much!” Donghyuck feels that Jeno phrased his statement almost rhetorically, so he stays mum. It’s not that he missed Jeno per se, but his absence certainly did make Donghyuck wish the boy had not gone away in the first place. But that was only because Jeno left him alone, not any other lingering reason. ( _Or is there_?)

“It was quiet while you were gone,” Donghyuck says, too quickly. “It was nice.” A blinking crimson siren flashes in Donghyuck’s mind. Why say that, he thinks, that’s a terrible thing to say to someone! Donghyuck just complimented Jeno and offered a semi-apology for being a bit moody towards him all but twenty minutes ago, so it all sounds a bit hypocritical on his own part.

Jeno appears to not take it to heart, but Donghyuck wishes he hadn’t said it to begin with. One of the many things he’d hauled with him back to the table is a cold compress, which he hands to Hyuck. “Here. They had this in the kitchen, so until we leave hold it close to your hand. Afterwards, you can put on this.” Jeno wiggles a bandaid. “At least if you accidentally bump your hand against something, it won’t hurt too much with the bandaid.”

“Thank you, Jeno.”

Jeno had been looking down, but at the words of thanks his head pops back up, and a dazzling smile spreads across his lips. Just then, Donghyuck can feel a pang of pressure in the center of his chest, and he wonders if sudden pains can be a side-effect from a scald. He needs to remind himself that perhaps it is something to look into later.

“And–” Jeno stands and lifts his seat from one end of the table to the other to be nearer to Donghyuck. He plops back down onto the chair, dragging a side-dish bowl and an additional pair of chopsticks to put in between them. “You can share my ramen with me! There's a family gathering tonight so the owners are closing up shop in a little bit. They told me they wouldn’t have time to make you another bowl tonight, but if you come back another time they’ll make one for you free of charge.”

Donghyuck shakes his head. “You need to eat, Jeno, this bowl won’t be enough for the both of us to share. It’s fine, really. ”

“Then–” Jeno slides the bowl over to Donghyuck. “–you can have all of it.”

Donghyuck stubbornly pushes it back. “No, did you not hear that I literally _just said_ you need to eat? It isn’t fair to you, because I’m sure you’re hungry.”

“You’re the one who burned your hand because you were so excited that the ramen was here, so. I want you to eat too, alright? If I get hungry I can always make something for myself back at the dorms, it isn’t a big deal.” Jeno brings to attention the more miniscule bowl that was left off to the side. “Look, I even got you more bean sprouts to put in!”

“Jeno, do you even _like_ bean sprouts?”

Jeno’s not paying attention to him, nor to his question. His nimble fingers are already gripping the side of the bowl, turning it upside down to empty the contents into the ramen. Only when Donghyuck repeats himself does Jeno finally answer, peering over at him with wide eyes. “Um, I guess?” Both of them are staring at the bean sprouts that float atop the rest of what’s in the bowl. As they absorb the broth they become harder and harder to pick out against the noodles. Donghyuck whines, since he would’ve picked them out for Jeno, but now that seems impossible. “You said _you_ liked them though! So, that’s good enough for me.” He shoves the chopsticks into Donghyuck’s free hand. “Eat!”

To encourage a hesitant Donghyuck, Jeno skillfully maneuvers a plethora of noodles and sprouts, infiltrated by some bits of chives, into his mouth. He exaggerates his chewing, offering a thumbs-up. “ _Delicious_.” He swirls everything around with the chopsticks. “You know, the bean sprouts really offer an interesting flavor..”

“Loser! Please, shut up! I’ll eat some.” It’s all terms of endearment from the way Donghyuck looks at it, and he rolls his eyes as he uses his own chopsticks to eagerly have some of the ramen.

( _Donghyuck does not see the way Jeno peeks up at him adoringly every few minutes as he chews, so absorbed in making sure at least half the bowl was gone_.)

◎

After Donghyuck and Jeno respectfully destroy the bowl of ramen, they pay and go on their merry way back to campus. It’s a bit of a walk, but Jeno is happy to drive and Donghyuck is not going to refuse. While in the passenger seat, Donghyuck happily munches on some gyoza the employees had offered on the house and packed up for them nicely. The smell permeates throughout the car, and Jeno glances over at Donghyuck while they’re waiting patiently at a red light. “Hey, Hyuck, could you give me one?” He bashfully asks.

Donghyuck, mouth full of steamed goodness, looks at Jeno with wide-eyes. He attempts to swallow quickly to reply, but winces at the manner in which the piece of dumpling travels down harshly. “Yeah, yeah. Of course.” But when Donghyuck replies, the light is green, and Jeno cannot grab anything with his hands as they’re glued to the wheel. Donghyuck, gyoza in hand, is wondering the best way to go about this. “Uh..” He’s about to ask if he should just wait until the light turns red, but suddenly Jeno’s opening his mouth wide and going ‘ah’ like he’s at a dentist. Donghyuck assumes this means he should feed it to him, and he stifles back giggles as he pops the gyoza onto the tip of Jeno’s tongue. He recoils his tongue and closes his mouth, his head bobbing happily as he munches.

“Hey, Jeno?”

Jeno hums in a way that means for him to continue, his eyes settled on the road. Donghyuck knows Jeno cannot afford to look over at him anyway, but he’s oddly grateful for that.

He bites his tongue, almost not saying it. “Thank you for tonight. Even though we really didn’t do any studying, spending time with you was incredibly.. _tolerable_.”

“Is incredibly tolerable your code for saying you had a good time, and would go out for dinner with me again?” Donghyuck continues to ignore how hopeful his words sound.

Donghyuck is focused on the brightness of the red light that only stares back at the two. “I told you not to let anything I said tonight go to your head, Lee Jeno!” He only gives a more proper, direct reply to Jeno’s question once the shade flickers to green.

( _Whether or not he says yes stays a secret confined in the doors of Jeno’s SUV_.)

◎

Donghyuck, for the first time in months, is anxious.

It’s the kind of nervousness that causes his leg to bounce incessantly throughout class and obsessively glance at his phone every few seconds, even if the screen doesn’t illuminate with a notification. He’s opted to not hang out with his friends for the day, in fear that his mood might potentially be a buzzkill. He hides out in the recreational center near the soccer field, absentmindedly scrolling through Instagram to get his mind off what it’s been focused on for hours.

He’s rarely on Instagram in this way, always being able to find something better to do than gape over pictures of his classmates cliff jumping in Maui or flaunting another Gucci hoodie— _seriously, Yangyang, seriously_? He’s only on it at all because Jaemin, the bio aficionado, and Renjun, the campus proclaimed selfie king, forced him to make an account. Yangyang is the one who nudges him to make the posts, but Donghyuck refuses to take advice from someone whose feed is entirely made up of streetwear posts.

So while this is his current distraction of choice, it’s no different than any other day and he offers hearts with no regard to who or what the picture contained. Until a particular photo catches his attention, and suddenly he’s once again scrolling back through lavish vacations and filtered selfies to take another look.

Donghyuck is irritated beyond belief, because of course it’s Jeno that he scrolls through a millennia and a half of filtered pictures to see. In the post, he looks so devastatingly pretty that it causes Donghyuck’s heart to skip several beats.

It’s a simple selfie that should not be causing him to have any heart palpitations at all, but Jeno’s blonde hair is striking against the pale ivory of the wall and the crimson of the faux denim jacket that falls loosely over his shoulders. And it shouldn’t be mentioned, no, not at all, but there’s a slight twinkle in the obsidian sea of Jeno’s eyes.

Donghyuck _cannot_ take it.

He closes the app, now properly distracted, casting his phone into the dungeon that is his jacket pocket. He can feel his limbs pushing him to stand and escape the confines of the recreation center, so he does. He isn’t even sure where he’s going exactly but he’s continuously on the move, not pausing for anything or anything.

Until he’s clumsily stumbling into a firm wall that, oddly enough, has arms to hold him steady.

“Woah, woah! Where are you going in such a rush, Hyuckie?”

Donghyuck blinks once, twice. When the initial shock wears off, he wriggles himself free from the clutches and takes several steps back to assess the situation. Standing before him is who else but Lee Jeno, smiling at him without a single care in the world. He is exactly who Donghyuck was hoping he wouldn’t run into, yet here he is. Seriously, he cannot believe his impeccable luck.

Jeno’s daring, running his fingers over the felt of Donghyuck’s jacket, even popping a button. Usually, Donghyuck does not let anyone touch his varsity jacket under any circumstances. Last year, they’d had an end of season party where all varsity members received jackets with their monograms. Since Donghyuck had been declared the conference’s top scorer and MVP, he received an additional, distinctive patch with fancy engraving. Essentially, this jacket is special to him, and the only person he allows to touch is Jaemin during laundry day, and only because he knows how to stream dry it just right. “Nice jacket.” Jeno muses. “Very soft, most valuable player.”

Donghyuck gapes.

“No time to talk, I’m busy.”

“Doing what?”

His mind is screaming for him to move away, yet his body tells him otherwise; his feet stays planted on the ground, effectively keeping him captive. Donghyuck furrows his eyebrows, attempting to be dismissive. “Not important.”

Donghyuck has to give him credit—Jeno’s incredibly persistent. He folds his arms over his chest, raising one eyebrow. “If it’s not important, then you can tell me.”

Surprisingly enough, he relents. It is one of those days where he’s stressed enough to spill his secrets out to just about anyone who would spare time to lend their ear. Today it just happens to be Jeno. “So, you know how we’re first in our division right now, right?” The blonde nods. “Well, we’re ahead but when we tied that one match a few weeks ago it set us almost level on points with another school. If they win their game, we’ll be tied.”

“It’ll go into goal differential, though, wouldn’t it? And we’ve definitely scored more goals, so as long as we’ve scored more goals than them, we’ll go through even if we’re level on points.”

Hyuck hums. He is pleasantly surprised that Jeno is so up to date on the league’s rules. To sour the thought, and essentially be less amazed by yet another aspect of the blonde’s personality, Donghyuck chalks up Jeno’s knowledge to the fact that he played soccer for years prior. Greatly thanks to Donghyuck and the rest of the team’s offense, they do not have to worry at all in the goal scoring aspect. Paying such close attention to this game is inessential to Donghyuck, and there are so many more optimal uses of his time. He knows this, but is glued to his phone nevertheless.

“Hyuck, you’re so incredibly tense right now. How about you come with me, I was just about to go get a coffee or some Frappuccino with an insane amount of sugar, and take a breather.” Jeno’s offering him this wide smile like his offer is supposed to be appealing, and Donghyuck is ashamed to admit that he considers it greatly.

He’s outweighing the pros and cons in his mind. There’s an endless amount of pros, one being that he’d be going out for milkshakes with undoubtedly the most handsome boy on campus; a con he can think of for this is that the boy just has to be Lee Jeno, the object of Donghyuck’s affection and hatred simultaneously. Yes, it is possible to find someone wildly attractive, adorable, and amiable yet all in the same instance want nothing to do with them.

Donghyuck suspects his heart and soul both reject Jeno because the blonde serves him chest pains on a silver platter, directly from the lingering touches and shy glances. They’re working in tandem to look out for Donghyuck, warning him to not get involved with the boy whose eyes twinkle brighter than the stars that litter the navy skies at night.

Jeno senses Hyuck’s hesitance, and adds, “If it makes you feel any better, I have math homework you can check over. That’s if you don’t want to hang out with me for no reason, I know we’re not exactly the closest of friends.”

When Jeno puts it that way, Donghyuck sounds like an incredibly inconsiderate person. Sure, he may be brutally sarcastic at times but he does not consider himself to be mean in any way, shape, or form. He moves to defend himself when his phone buzzes from the wool cage deep in his pocket. “Renjun texted!” Hyuck exclaims. “That must mean there’s an update.”

“Renjun’s at the game?” Jeno’s leaning over to get a good glance at Renjun’s text. Usually, Donghyuck might remind the boy of personal space, however he is too caught up in digesting Renjun’s message to truly care.

Distractedly, Donghyuck explains, “Renjun and Yangyang are at the game. I sent them to scope it out, since it’d be too suspicious if I went.”

“I guess we’re no longer soccer players, but spies!” Jeno jokes, finding the situation he pictures in his head oddly amusing. “So what, are Renjun and Yangyang in all black and wearing sunglasses? Do they have walkie-talkies?”

To humor him, Donghyuck deadpans, not an inch of emotion in his voice as he agrees. “Yes.”

“O-Oh.”

Donghyuck’s phone begins to vibrate incessantly, his screen illuminating with a request from Yangyang to FaceTime. He slides his index fingertip across the glass to answer the call, fighting the urge to laugh as both he and Jeno are digitally face to face with a bumbling Yangyang and an irritated Renjun.

“Did he pick up?”

“I don’t know Renjun, do you see me looking at the phone right now?”

“Hi.” Jeno says simply, violating Donghyuck’s personal space for the umpteenth time to insert his face into the shot. The soft quality of voice that does not belong to Donghyuck is enough to capture the attention of the boys on the opposite side, and they both appear delighted to see Jeno’s smiling face on the screen.

“Jeno?” Renjun’s voice is full of intensely piqued interest, and his eyes shimmer with an odd level of fascination that Hyuck identifies easily. That looks only means that once Renjun tells Jaemin is this interesting development (see: Donghyuck hanging out with Jeno on a non tutoring nor practice day) they’ll have a field day on questioning him about it. “What are you doing with Donghyuck?”

“Oh, I just ran into him—or really he ran into me. Literally.”

“Ah. Alright, well, we just wanted to FaceTime to tell you that Kyunghee University didn’t even tie their game. They lost 3 to 0.”

“3 to 0!” choruses Yangyang in a silly manner, paired with odd wriggling in his seat that might just be vigorous enough to be considered a celebratory dance.

Renjun offers Yangyang’s instinctive movements a side glance, but a tiny smile noticeably tugs itself upon his lips. “Anyway, with that we stay first of the league and automatically qualify for the big tournament.”

Donghyuck feels an incomparable sense of elation. Both he and the team worked throughout the season to maintain their standing in high hopes that it would all pay off. They’d qualified last year, placing third in the division, but were knocked out early. Since then, the need to redeem the university’s name has been a recurring theme in Hyuck’s vision of a perfect season. Now, they’re only games away from achieving what he has been dreaming of for months.

He’s so happy he isn’t quite sure how to even react, thanking Renjun and Yangyang before ending the call abruptly just so he can piece his feelings together. He forgets there’s another intent gaze coming from the boy beside him.

“Hyuck, you deserve this.” It’s a simple statement, really, there is not much to it, but it tugs on the strings hidden within Donghyuck’s heart. “This isn’t just a sport for you, it’s obviously so much more than that. It’s an important piece of your life, and I’ve never seen anyone identify so much with a sport the way you do, so I’m sure that just makes this so much better. No matter how the rest of the tournament turns out just know you’re the most capable person on any field, captain.”

Donghyuck is not sure how else to reply to that except to say “thank you” a hundred times over. But he doesn’t, opting to stare at Jeno with an unidentifiable glint dazzling in his eyes—perhaps it’s appreciation, or maybe it’s the adoration that’s been simmering for weeks now finally bubbling to the surface. The lack of words on Hyuck’s end causes a bashful Jeno to shuffle his feet and pat Donghyuck’s shoulder in an awkwardly friendly manner. “I’m going to go, okay? I’ll see you at practice.”

For once, Donghyuck wishes Jeno wouldn’t leave. 

◎

Tournament season, without a doubt, is the most stressful stretch of the year. Sure, the weeks leading up to midterms and finals are always contenders for worst times of Donghyuck’s life, but grades to him are a solvable issue. For Donghyuck, acing his exams are situations he himself can create. With his incredible ethic in all aspects of his academia, he knows that if he puts time into studying, he will pass. However, tournament season is entirely different. He can put in his best performance, but if his team does not give the same amount of effort in theirs then they will not succeed to the next leg. It’s as simple as that, and as the captain, his obligation is to bring his team to victory, and he is perhaps too determined to do so.

Which is why Donghyuck is scampering around all week. He is frenzied in all his daily chores; from going over the readings for class in high hopes that he won’t receive a pop quiz, to practicing on the pitch until his legs are riddled with soreness and his cleats are splattered with mud and blades of synthetic grass. He only sees the plush comfort of his bed until late hours of the night, and rarely sees Jaemin nor any of his other friends.

Their team, not only by luck but by hard work, makes it to the finals. Donghyuck is undeniably elated, but it only amps up his nerves more so than before. The next and final game decides it all, and both failure and victory are possibilities within reach. They’re practicing more and without saying Donghyuck is practicing ten times harder, still heading to the pitch whenever he gets the opportunity to.

It’s the Friday evening that marks two days to the big game, and Hyuck is on track to spend another few hours tiring himself out when he receives a phone-call on his way back to the dorm. Contrary to his actions of the past week or two he picks up his phone, preoccupied with walking but too bothered by the irritating ringing to allow it to continue on.

“Hello?”

“Hyuck!”

Donghyuck blinks, taking a quick glance at his screen to see the name that flickers on the caller ID.

“Jeno?”

“Yes..?” And Jeno chuckles lightly, brushing off Donghyuck’s confusion as if him calling is the most natural thing in the world. “Why do you sound so confused, you do have my number saved, don’t you? I literally saw you save it, did you delete it?”

Hyuck’s bewildered by the casual conversation. “Jeno, why would I delete your number?” It might’ve been something that’s crossed his mind. “Actually, better question; is there something wrong or is this a prank call?”

“No, nothing’s wrong..” A pause. Hyuck can hear faint rustling from the other line, and the momentary silence is as if Jeno’s suddenly grown hesitant to ask what he specifically called him for. “It’s just that it’s Friday and since we have the day off from practice I figured I should call you to see where we’re going to meet up.”

“Jeno,” Donghyuck sighs. “do you really need for me to tutor you still? You’ve gotten consecutive As and Bs for all your quizzes and tests, I really don’t think you need for me to babysit you while you do your homework over a cup of coffee on Fridays anymore.”

“Hey, it wasn’t just coffee, it was ramen and gyoza too. Don’t downgrade our time together.”

“Regardless, I just don’t think this arrangement is necessary anymore. I told coach I’d tutor you until either we came to the end of the season or you stabilized your grades. Both have happened, so I think that lets me off the hook.”

It’s not that Donghyuck doesn’t want to see Jeno. He’s sure that’s how it comes off, and perhaps that’s the presentation he’s aiming for, but really there’s nobody more he’d rather see now than Jeno. The last time the two talked, Jeno dished out sentences upon sentences of praise in Donghyuck’s favor before abandoning him in the unfavorable autumnal breeze. Then, Hyuck had wanted him to stay and wanted to tell him as much, but when it comes to Jeno, he’s never sure how to portray his feelings in a way that isn’t faux hatred.

It doesn’t help that what to do about his feelings for the boy is still an incredibly gray area in his subconscious; he isn’t sure if he wants to tell him that now, or ever. He’s considered that maybe the fact that the season is coming to a close is a good thing, since it’ll allow him to cut ties and bury the feelings before they become a burden.

Though not at all aware of Hyuck’s plans, Jeno seems to think the opposite.

“Then in that case, for the first time, let me tutor you. No questions asked, just meet me at the field in 10 minutes, because I bet you already were going there anyway.” The next grouping of Jeno’s words are spoken so fast that Donghyuck has not one second to protest. “I’m hanging up before you find some reason not to come. _ByeDonghyuckseeyousoon_!”

Donghyuck gapes at his phone screen once the call disconnects, grumbling as he returns the device to his pocket. As he leisurely walks in the direction of the field, he decides that he has two choices: he can either totally desert Jeno and text him some absurdly terrible reason that he cannot make it ( _he suddenly contracted the flu and food poisoning—at the same time_ ), or he can go and see what Jeno has in store.

The prospect of Jeno having a surprise for him does pique his interest enough for Donghyuck to not abandon him, and he oddly enough keeps his word. When he arrives, he’s not at all surprised to find the field empty. There’s a nipping chill in the air, and the sun’s essentially disappeared from the sky, clearly establishing that it is not playing weather. Due to the distance he overlooks Jeno, but once he closes the gap between the two, he is taken aback by the sight. There, sprawled out on an oddly patterned blanket, is Lee Jeno, surrounded by several colorful tupperware. Jeno does not notice him either initially, busying himself with intently arranging and rearranging the blanket’s setup. Donghyuck’s shout of the boy’s name seizes Jeno’s attention from his distraction instantaneously, and he glances up expectantly. Donghyuck’s heart skips a beat once their eyes meet.

Before that moment, Donghyuck is sure he cannot recall a moment where anyone around him, whether it be family or a friend, has ever looked so happy to see him. Once Jeno captures sight of him, a pure glimmer of happiness appears in his eyes. Content paints the entirety of his demeanor, obvious from the way he immediately sits up and his vigorous waving, beckoning Donghyuck over.

“Hey,” Jeno’s tone is welcoming, and he pats the space beside him to signal for Donghyuck to sit down, and he does. “I wasn’t even sure if you were going to actually come.”

He wasn’t either. “I was coming to the field anyway.” Donghyuck coughs. “I figured why not just stop by.”

“Oh, yeah, okay.” Jeno nods, like he’d been anticipating his answer. “Well, that was why I set this up here, I thought you’d be more likely to come if it was on the field, since you’ve been spending a lot of time here lately.”

“Who told you that?”

“Jaemin.” _Of course he did_. “But don’t be mad at him, he didn’t say anything else except that you were practicing here a lot. I asked since I was worried when you didn’t come out with us for bowling and BBQ the other night. I really didn’t think you’d pick up if I called or texted, so asking him was my only way of getting an answer.”

“Well it is tournament season, so even if Jaemin hadn’t told you, I’m almost always here.”

Something in Donghyuck’s sentence flickers on the light in Jeno’s mind, and his eyes widen. “Yeah! Since you brought up tournament season, let me tell you why we’re here, because I’m sure you’re dying to know.”

“Dying is a little dramatic, but you say that.”

Jeno gestures to his entirely setup which, all things considered, looks incredibly elaborate and homey in the same instance. Donghyuck’s eyes bounce between the colorful lids of tupperware, and the two thermos mugs all centered on the blanket. “Last time I saw you, and even at practice, I saw how tense you looked. I know class and the tournament is stressing you out, so I thought maybe it’d be a good idea for a mini-relaxation session, and where else to do so if not the place you love the most! So, I bought a bunch of yummy foods that Jaemin told me you liked, and also made some hot chocolate, just because I thought it was too cold to get you anything iced to drink. I like you, but not enough to get frostbite.” Jeno laughs. “Sorry.”

Jeno openly saying that he likes Donghyuck is what his mind is fixated on. The words were put so casually that Donghyuck struggles with contemplating if they are even meant in that way. He doesn’t want to think of it in such childish terms, but Donghyuck wonders if Jeno like-likes him, or just.. likes him? There’s a crazy big difference between the two, obviously, and Donghyuck thinks it’d be awkward to just outright ask what Jeno means. So, he doesn’t.

“Jeno, you didn’t have to do all this..” Donghyuck’s sentence trails as he picks up each tupperware, peeking to see the variety of snacks Jeno has bought; and it’s true, there are some of his favorites inside. The action on Jeno’s behalf tugs at Donghyuck’s heart, but also makes him extremely hungry, enough to the point where his stomach rumbles.

Jeno frowns. “When was the last time you ate, Hyuck?”

It takes him a few seconds too long to answer. “I had some toast this morning I think?”

“You think? See, this is exactly why I did this.” Jeno almost forces the utensils into Donghyuck’s hands. “Two days to the final, and you’re not eating? Do you want to pass out on the field? Eat.”

Donghyuck fumbles with the lid, eventually flipping it off and placing it to the side. The food inside is the perfect temperature, not too hot but not cold, and he hastily begins to eat. Jeno actually laughs at him, before using his own utensil and taking a stab at what Donghyuck is eating. Instinctively, he holds the Tupperware steady between him and Jeno, so that they both can pick at the food with ease. The simple gesture causes Jeno to smile.

“I feel like this goes without asking, but you’re nervous about the game, right? That’s why you’re acting like this.”

Underneath the setting sun, Hyuck glances towards Jeno. “Acting like what?”

“Not eating, only practicing, avoiding everyone.” Jeno ticks the unfortunate fruits of Donghyuck’s recent behavior with the fingertips of his free hand.

Donghyuck frowns. He almost wants to make an excuse, to tell Jeno that he is absolutely incorrect. He’d like to say that he’s confident in the terms of the game, however, the way he’s been acting only proves that he isn’t. Nobody practices this much for something they are certain that will end in victory. So, what Jeno is saying is the truth, and nothing but the truth. And Hyuck does not want to lie to him, not really.

“Yeah.” Donghyuck says, quietly and in between the munching of his food. “The team’s come so far, and there’s so much riding on this game that if we lose I’m not really sure how I’d cope with it. We weren’t even this close last year, so the fact that we’re all the way in the finals now only makes me want to practice more, work harder. Especially since people expect so much from me specifically, I’m scared of not showing up the way everyone is hoping me to.”

There’s a certain amount of pity in Jeno’s voice, evident in the lilt in which he says Donghyuck’s name, and the way his head is tilted just slightly to the side. “I’ve told you this before. You’re the most capable person, and you’re going to do just fine. You may not see it, but you motivate the younger players, they look up to your brutal honesty and amazing sportsmanship. You motivate all of us, so honestly, without your leadership I’m not even sure if we would have ever made it this far. We’re a team; if we fall, we’re going to fall as one, and if we win, we’ll rise up stronger. On Sunday, nothing will be your fault because you got us this far.”

And finally, hearing the honesty on the other’s boy behalf once again, Donghyuck wants to be honest with both himself and Jeno too.

“Jeno, why are you so kind to me?”

Jeno blinks, and again he tilts his head grandly to the side, and damn it, last week Jaemin made the comparison of Jeno to a cute puppy and Donghyuck cannot get the idea out of his head. He blows a strand of hair out of his face, then takes the time to comb the loose strands back. As he does so, he sighs. “Isn’t it obvious at this point, Donghyuck?”

“What is?”

Jeno’s exasperated, and Donghyuck feels remorseful for bothering him. “Why I’m nice to you.”

“If it was obvious, do you think I’d be asking you?”

With his free hand, Jeno pops a cookie into Donghyuck’s mouth, effectively causing him to stop mumbling altogether. As Donghyuck struggles to chew the sweet goodness of the treat, he knits his eyebrows together, grumbling at Jeno in discontent. When Hyuck attempts to talk despite the situation he’s currently in, Jeno takes the initiative to silence him further by speaking first. The moment surges forward quickly, and the words are so abrupt that Donghyuck almost cannot believe what he is hearing.

“I like you, Donghyuck.” And the color that rushes to his cheeks is an unmatched cherry red, and Donghyuck feels the need to coddle Jeno because he _seriously must be so embarrassed right now_ , really, but he pushes on nevertheless. “That’s why I’m so nice to you. With everything I’ve done, I really thought that was obvious, so either you’re crazy oblivious, or I’m terrible at establishing my feelings.”

Donghyuck chokes.

Legitimately, he begins to cough, leaning forward as he clutches his stomach. And Jeno’s eyes are widening at the realization that a piece of cookie must have gone down the wrong way. Suddenly, he’s whacking Donghyuck’s back with the palm of his hand. It doesn’t necessarily help, but the extreme amount of force is enough for Donghyuck and he sits up straight, tinier coughs as his airways clear up.

Jeno, with a raised brow, says, “You know, I’ve never gotten this reaction before.”

Donghyuck glares, leaning towards Jeno to playfully smack his thigh. He’s taken aback, though, by the other boy’s slight recoil. He can blatantly see the way Jeno’s muscle tenses, and how the palm of his hand instinctively sheathes the area where Donghyuck’s fingers might’ve accidentally prodded.

It causes Hyuck to narrow his eyes and drop whatever he’d intended on saying to pursue a conversation in a different direction. “What's wrong?”

The way Jeno averts his eyes tells Donghyuck that he knows exactly what he’s talking about. However, he feigns a clumsy sort of innocence that is not at all convincing to Donghyuck. “Hm? Nothing, no, nothing is wrong.”

“Yes, there is.” He insists, pointing to Jeno’s leg, and the boy instinctively flinches yet again; Donghyuck’s eyes widen. “Tell me. What's wrong with your leg.”

Jeno, bless his heart, caves then. He’s still not looking at him, suddenly shy. “It’s nothing. During the last game I fell the wrong way, but it’s fine, really. I’ll be okay.”

“You’re flinching when I’m not even touching you..” Donghyuck’s gaze softens as he sneaks a peek at the boy; he doesn’t mean to think about it in this moment, but underneath the simmering tangerine splendor cast upon him from the sun’s bow from the sky, Jeno looks more handsome than usual. “You’re going to go see the trainer. Just so she can check and make sure that everything’s fine. We can’t have you playing if there’s something wrong, you can sit on the bench.”

“Even though it's the final game?” Jeno asks, and Donghyuck repeats the sentiments back. With a defeated shrug, Jeno nods. “I’ll go.”

He says this, however the words must have been solely to placate Donghyuck because Jeno is not moving. Rather, he’s sitting pretty on the blanket—a GUNDAM limited edition blanket, Donghyuck notes after expecting it up close—and peering at Donghyuck, whose eyes are squinted at him in both suspicion and expectation. Jeno, noticing this, tilts his head to the side. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Go. Trainer. Now.”

“Wait, you want me to go right now? In the middle of our..” Jeno’s sentence halts before he can say anything further, however he conveys his point by glancing around and gesturing at the setup with panicked motions. The food that is set up is not even partly finished, and they hadn’t even gotten to the dessert Jeno packed. “Right now?”

“This is important, Jeno. You can’t be hurt, okay? You need to go, and then you need to tell me that the trainer is going to tell you that everything’s okay. This isn’t a joke, it could get worse, and.. You just need to go.” Donghyuck folds his arms. “Don’t fight me on this.”

There’s a light in Jeno’s eyes. “Donghyuck, are you worried for me?”

The answer flies out a bit too quick, but there’d been no hesitation in Donghyuck’s mind when Jeno asked. “Yes.” There’s a cherry red blush that takes reign over the apples of Hyuck’s cheeks then, all fueled by the embarrassment that flutters sorely in the pit of his stomach.

He might actually miss Jeno if he’d be sidelined for whatever is left of the season. Sure, there’s only a practice or two left and maybe some social gatherings off the pitch, however the thought stands. He’d miss the way Jeno offers him soft smiles from across the field even whenever he sees that Donghyuck’s eyebrows were furrowed together in deep thought; or how Jeno continuously buys him snacks and drinks whenever they have tutoring sessions and has never once demanded for Donghyuck to pay him back; or how before and after every game, Jeno never fails to go up to Donghyuck to spew unprompted positivity at him, all with the sole hopes of making the captain smile. It hits him then that he’d miss all these things, not because Jeno is just another kind teammate that he likes to see every now and then, but because Donghyuck likes him.

“Jeno, go, right now.” When the realization sinks in it causes a sudden uncontrollable chill to creep up Donghyuck’s spine, and he wants to be alone; or at least, he does not want to be in such a close proximity to Jeno. He’s clamoring to reach for the phone in his pocket, opening up his messages. “I’m going to call the trainer so he should expect you. It’s tournament season so he usually stays later than usual. I-I’ll tell him you’re on your way.”

Jeno appears a bit helpless, really, and he’s wobbly as he moves to stand up. “Well, what about all this—”

“—I’ll bring it back to your dorm, either later tonight or during practice tomorrow. Don’t worry, just go, and text me when you leave. Go.”

He’s a little bit hopeful as Jeno asks, “I’ll text you later, then?”

He nods curtly. “I’m counting on it.”

Hyuck can see the way Jeno’s walk teeters a bit, and he watches the boy go with a devastated feeling in his chest. His hands are moving faster than his thoughts are, and he’s packing everything securely into the woven basket Jeno’d brought it all in. Once everything is haphazardly thrown in, he’s gathering the full basket in his arms and dashing across the field. His phone is on speaker and tucked into a pocket in the top corner of his jacket, and he’s impatiently waiting for the person he’d dialed to pick up. On the last dial, he thinks about hanging up, until he hears a very last second response.

“You know I love you, Hyuck, but I was really considering just not picking this up at all.”

“Jaemin, Jaemin! Nana, this is important, I need to talk to you.”

Donghyuck knows Jaemin’s mind, and these words would intrigue him tenfold. He can hear the way the interest floods his voice then; it’s the equivalent of someone sitting up immediately after dangling a juicy subject of conversation during a particularly boring day. “Whatever it is, tell me now, I’m free to hear it.”

“You’re free to hear it?” A third voice breaks out, and Donghyuck instantly can identify Mark’s voice. “Donghyuck, stop interrupting my time with my boyfriend, he’s literally your roommate! Do you need to talk to him right now?”

“Mark, you already have a loving boyfriend you can make out with anytime, now stop being greedy and let me get the advice I need so I can be like that!”

“..I respect the hustle, Hyuck. Go on, now we’re both listening.”

“Okay, so I was getting out of class when Jeno texted me, right? And he told me to meet him at the field—”

Jaemin interrupts with, “Lee Donghyuck, if you stood him up, I am going to ruin your life!”

Hyuck sighs exasperatedly. “No, I met him! So, when I got there, he had set up this picnic outside for us and stuff.”

Mark sounds amazed, and he marvels at the scenario that Hyuck is explaining. “Not to put our relationship down, but neither of us even do that and Jaemin and I have been dating for months. Hyuck, seriously, hold onto him, holy shit.”

“Right.. Right? So, anyway, he told me he likes me.”

There’s a brief lapse in pure conversation, since both Mark and Jaemin are producing high pitched screams that make Donghyuck’s ears ring and ache. Jaemin is especially ecstatic, since he’d sensed the tension from a mile away, and described the pending relationship as “overly handsome boy next door pining over an odd, mean, and oblivious soccer captain”.

“Tell me you said you liked him back, Hyuckie, please!”

“Well.. I—okay, something else was in the way so I told him he had to go.” He does not want to disclose Jeno’s personal business regarding his health. He may be fine, so Hyuck does not feel it’s his place to go around telling his teammates that Jeno may or may not be sidelined at their final game. “But, I realized it then that I like him. Like-like him.”

“Then, you need to tell him that! He’s a handsome boy, if you don’t snatch him up now that he’s admitting his feelings for you, someone else definitely will.”

Mark agrees. “Half the students in my class swoon whenever he laughs or answers a question in class, so I can verify he’s a hot commodity on the market. He’s cute, smart, and hot, all in the same person; and oddly enough, he’s into you, of all people! So, Donghyuck, if you fumble this..”

“Then you might as well go to the monastery. Live a life of solitude and mourn the loss of Lee Jeno’s love.”

“It’s not that serious!” whines Donghyuck.

“Oh, but it is.” says Jaemin. “Jokes aside, you rarely ever like people back, so I know this is a big deal for you. You put captaining the soccer team and your stellar grades over everything else in your life, and as your best friend I can say that’s true. But, for once, consider your happiness outside all of that. Someone likes you, Hyuckie, and wants to make you happy. Give it a shot. It may not work out with Jeno, but at least you can say you tried regardless of the outcome.”

“Okay. I will. I’m going to tell him, after the game on Sunday. If we lose, then I’m going to patch up my feelings with him. And if we win.. Well, I want to celebrate with him too.”

The thought is terrifying. Jeno may have already told him his own feelings, but Donghyuck making the decision to reveal his on is something he does not usually do. Dating is something he never wants to make time for, and how can he? He darts from academic meetings to soccer tournaments, to everything else in between. Yes, he has a bubbling social life, but truthfully, things on the romantic side have always been simmered down. Maybe people in the past have attempted to get that far with him, but Donghyuck never paid mind until Jeno. Now he wants to at least try, and it’s scary for someone who’s never wanted to before.

He’s going to try though. And not just for himself, but for the kind transfer student who maybe has had his mind set on winning Hyuck’s heart from the beginning.

◎

Everyone has pre-game rituals. Hyuck has seen athletes on his team do just about everything, from eating exactly two chocolate chip cookies before every game (Yangyang) to collecting pieces of grass off the field they’re playing at (Renjun, when he played).

Sometimes, there are rituals that may not really help at all, but players follow them anyway. For example, Jaemin has to drink the largest size coffee from the nearest coffee shop before every game. While Renjun often calls Jaemin bluff for that not being a pregame ritual, rather just an excuse to feed into his daily caffeine addiction, the times he hasn’t had his coffee he claims to not have performed at his best. The last time they lost, Jaemin bemoaned his semi-poor performance on not having his double shot large Americano—to give his theory credit, Hyuck remembers he did look more tired that day. At this point nobody truly believes him, but Renjun will get him the coffee regardless; when it comes to one of the team’s biggest players, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Whatever it is it’s a quirk, and over the years of playing it isn’t odd that Donghyuck has picked up on one to call his own. Before every game, he likes to triple knot his cleats. Sure, compared to the rituals of other players (Mark, who does a split on every field) it’s pretty tame. Yangyang laughs at him every time his fingers pull at the laces, asking if he’s trying to cut off the circulation to his feet. Maybe he is, but it’s what works for him.

And today, the final game of the tournament, Donghyuck pulls the laces as far as they can go, and ties them enough to make walking initially a little bit tough. Teammates know not to engage in conversation with him before a big game as he likes to stay in a focused element, so they leave the captain to himself.

“Hey, Hyuck.”

However Jeno, just as he’s been doing since he transferred into Donghyuck’s life, doesn’t do so.

Donghyuck, whose eyes were set on the stripes of the Adidas logo on his cleats, glances up. He shouldn’t be surprised that Jeno is right before him, appearing pristine in the blinding white away kit. He looks like an angel, but Hyuck doesn’t tell him that.

“Jeno!” Donghyuck breathes, standing up quick enough for his feet to throb and for his mind to feel a bit fuzzy. “Hi. H-How’s your leg?”

“Better! The trainer said it wasn’t a big deal, probably just a sore muscle and that I can play the entire game, if I so choose! Thank you for pushing me to get checked out though..” Jeno shuffles shyly. “And thank you for worrying, it meant a lot to me.”

“No problem, Jeno. You’re not just a teammate to me anymore,” For the moment, he isn’t looking at Jeno so he doesn’t see the way his eyes focus on Donghyuck so intently. The way the sentence is built makes it sound like he is gearing up to confess when it is really just poor, accidental edging on Hyuck’s part. “You’re my friend, of course I’ll worry.”

“Mm.” Jeno nods, stretching out the next word. “Friends.”

Hearing it from Jeno’s mouth causes Donghyuck to realize the error he's made. He slaps his forehead, sighing loudly. “Wait, no! Jeno, I don’t mean it like that! About what you told me on Friday—”

“Hyuck, if you don’t like me back, please don’t tell me right before we’re about to play the biggest game of the season. It isn’t a good state of mind for you to think of rejecting me, and I don’t want that to weigh on my mind now.” And Hyuck’s eyes are wide, because Jeno is under the impression that he’s getting friend zoned, when in reality Hyuck wants to extract him from the friend zone. His voice is so soft it’s entirely devastating to Hyuck. “It’s okay if you don’t like me, and I can take it, but it’s just a distracting thought now.”

“Jeno, you are so so beautiful.” says Hyuck. “But you’re just as dense as I am. Please, I know it’s hypocritical of me but to say this but don’t interrupt me as I’m speaking. I want to—I want to..” He clears his throat. “I want to tell you something important, okay, and.. Hold on. ” The moment for Hyuck is ruined when he notices Chenle waving his arms awkwardly from behind Jeno. He figures he should address this, so to Chenle, he asks, “What is it, Lele?”

“Coach wants to talk to you.” Chenle, not usually shy, seems a little meek as he fills Hyuck in. “Sorry for interrupting you and Jeno, just coach told me to get you, so.. Here I am?” Donghyuck tells Chenle it’s fine, and quickly dismisses the younger player so that it’s just Jeno and him again.

“After the game I want to talk to you. Please, it’s important, and you’re not going to be upset with the outcome.” Another intruder comes in the form of their coach, who seems to have sought Donghyuck out rather than waiting for him to go speak to him.

Jeno, realizing he should go, backs away. “Okay.. After the game, then?”

Donghyuck nods as an assurance, then watches wistfully as Jeno heads up the stairs with Jaemin, Mark, Renjun, and Yangyang, who’d been watching their encounter from afar. He sighs, turning his attention to the older man before him. Now wasn’t the time to confess, anyway.

“Coach, is everything okay? Chenle said you want to talk to me before the game starts?”

“Donghyuck! I know you’re not sure if you’re entirely keen on going pro or not, but there are some scouts for some bigger known clubs in the stands. This shouldn’t impact the way you perform or not, but I just wanted to let you know, since they’re greatly interested in your performance specifically..”

It’s true, Donghyuck still isn’t sure if he intends to go professional with his career or not. Without a doubt, he is good enough to play for at least the U-21s in Korea, but it’s a commitment that he is not sure if he wants to go through with or not. Regardless, it’s a big opportunity to have such trained eyes watching his every move on the field.

Maybe he wishes he hadn’t been told, though, but Donghyuck thanks him. He endures the coach’s slaps on the back as a form of comradery, before the man shoved him in the direction of the tunnel, telling him to “go break a leg out there”. Not the best idiom to use in a sport where one can really break their legs, but Donghyuck forces a smile and heads in the direction of his team.

They’re gathered in a semi circle, and Donghyuck can both hear and see Mark engaging them in what seems like a pregame speech. As a junior, the team’s oldest player, and Hyuck’s co-captain, Mark is the most qualified to give a motivational talk. Donghyuck is happy to see him do so, and approaches slowly, tuning into Mark’s words. Unfortunately, he arrives for the end of the speech, and once the team catches sight of Hyuck, he’s pushed into the circle to offer some encouragement of his own.

“Mark has always been better with words, so I’m sure whatever he told you will be more helpful than what I’m about to say.” One sole, shaky breath. “I want to thank you all. That’s what’s important to me right now, telling you how happy and proud I am of every single one of you. To my newer players—” His eyes flicker to Chenle, and a blob of other freshmen who’d started along with him. “—and to my returning players, you’ve helped us get to this point; the finals! Regardless of if we win or lose after these 90 minutes, know that this season will go down in the university’s books forever. I am proud of you all.” He daringly makes eye contact with Jeno. “We’re a team. If we fall today, we’re going to go down as one. But, if we win, we’ll go the top stronger. Regardless, it’ll be together.” Jeno’s beaming, and it’s a smile Hyuck wishes will be ingrained in his mind forever. The cheers of the boys erupt, and Hyuck spurs them on. “Now let’s go win this game!”

◎

It’s the 40th minute, and the game is 0-0. Admittedly, this is a fact that is ruining his ego. In over half the games they’ve played, his team has scored by now; and in majority Hyuck was the one who scored the first goal. In the last few minutes he had a few good shots on goal, but none successful. The opposite team isn’t too great offensively nor defensively, and Hyuck can see they achieved finals status by placing in play one of his least favorite tactics—parking the bus. Which is a tactic where a team keeps as many players on their own side of the field to protect goal. Essentially, less to score for their own, more to make sure Hyuck’s team doesn’t at all.

So in the 41st minute when the opposing side actually gets a break, and their forward dribbles with ferocity to the other side of the field towards the goal, Hyuck’s team prepares defensively. Mark, Jeno, and Jaemin arguably the best defensive trio Hyuck has seen in a very long time, team up to snatch the ball from the opponent. Oddly enough, he gets past Jaemin and swindles his way past Mark. The last defense falls on Jeno, who successfully slides to get the ball away from the boy. All seems well as Mark passes the ball to Jaemin, who takes it back up to midfield.

Until Hyuck notices Jeno’s on the ground. The forward who he’d become entangled with is sat beside him, seemingly a bit dazed as he pats his own knee. The referee takes a quick glance at the scene but judges it as unimportant once the opposing forward stumbles back up, and jogs back to the group of his teammates who are on the other side. However, Jeno doesn’t get up, and from across the field, Hyuck is staring. He’s poking at his thigh, and the simple movement instills fear in the pit of Donghyuck stomach. It signals him that this may not be a good situation.

He does not receive time to harp on Jeno.

“Hyuck!”

He can hear Chenle calling his name, and against his better judgement he turns towards the sound of the voice, quickly finding the young freshman up against two older defenders. It’s clear he is calling out to him so that he can pass the ball whenever he got the chance, which he does as soon as Donghyuck turns to face him. The ball’s suddenly at his feet, which means the opponents are at his side, their nimble feet trying to get Hyuck down, or sway him just enough to get the ball from him. He does not let them, dribbling with a vicious intent towards the goal. This is his clearest shot yet, and Chenle and Jaemin are shouting his name, so he thinks this means to shoot. He cranes his foot at a satisfactory angle, getting ready to aim and fire.

_“Donghyuck!”_

He shoots.

The ball goes in.

The whistle blows.

Donghyuck turns around, surprised to find that his team is not celebrating. Rather, they are all crowded together on their own half of the field. That odd, prickling feeling is back again, and causes Donghyuck to dash to where everyone, including the referee, is gathered. He can feel his heart thump distractedly even before he can fully assess the scene. Once he does, though, a loud gasp emits from his mouth, and he shoves anyone in his way aside. It’s a sight that causes Donghyuck’s skin to prickle; Jeno, curled on the floor with the palm of his hand still clutching his thigh.

The impact in which Donghyuck collides with the floor is enough to scratch his own knees up a bit, but nothing hurts as he holds the side of Jeno’s arm, whispering to him. “What’s wrong, Jen? What’s wrong, tell me.”

Jeno seems relieved that Hyuck is the one beside him. “The guy I fell into, he kicked my thigh where it hurt earlier. Fuck, Hyuck, it hurts, it really, really hurts. I shouldn’t have played. I lied, it hurt really bad, even earlier.” The pain is causing the words to spill from Jeno’s lips incessantly. Donghyuck’s too preoccupied with inspecting Jeno’s thigh, which is an eye catching shade of sore red, to reply. It must hurt as bad as Jeno is claiming because there are tears threatening to continue their cascade down his cheeks, and Hyuck’s fingers instinctively push them away.

“Why would you do this! Jeno, why would you..” Donghyuck is not angry, not in the slightest. However, a swirl of disappointment and sadness washes over him as he kneels on the pitch, leaning over Jeno. Neither emotion of Donghyuck’s is towards Jeno himself, but rather at the situation as a whole.

The truth stings. “I wanted to play and help the team win.. I know it was important to you, and we didn’t have many other subs to play this position.. I thought it’d be okay and that I’d be fine.”

The sea parts for the trainer, who asks for Hyuck to give him some space as he kneels besides the injured boy. He shuffles over slightly, but his gaze is unwavering as the trainer and his helper lower Jeno onto a stretcher. Hyuck’s stomach continuously swirls, because is it so serious that Jeno cannot even walk, or are they simply taking a precaution? Regardless, he’s distracted as he watches the staff lift him up, and quickly march to clear off the field.

“Donghyuck.” Hyuck turns around at the call of his name, facing Mark. “Are you okay? You look a little.. disoriented, to say the least.”

“Yeah.” Hyuck nods, but he’s not totally fine, not really. “Is he going to be okay you think?”

It dawns on Mark then. “Oh.. _oh_! I forgot that you, uh.” His eyes dart from Hyuck’s figure to the stretcher that becomes smaller and smaller as it’s lifted farther away. “Anyway, I think he’s going to be fine. Regardless, Hyuck, right now isn’t the time to think about this, we have a few minutes of play left and we’re down a man.”

Donghyuck feels selfish that the thought of asking to be subbed out so that he could accompany Jeno off the field even dared to cross his mind. Mark’s right, they have two minutes, or even more if extra time is added to make up for the delay before the official end of the first half. Their coach isn’t willing to sub someone in for Jeno’s place until the start of the second, so with a man down Donghyuck is almost forced to play the last few minutes. “You’re right. Yeah, okay.. Let’s go.”

Mark nudges his shoulder before dashing off to return to his place in defense. As Hyuck heads to the semi circle in the center of the field, he spares the slightest glance towards the bench; no Jeno, but Yangyang and Renjun are offering him incredibly encouraging smiles.

“Go Donghyuck!” shouts Yangyang, enthusiastically. “Woo!”

At the sight, a shaky breath escapes his lips and his shoulders relax. It’s exactly what Donghyuck needs to finish off the first half.

However, as soon as the whistle blows a minute or so later, Donghyuck makes a beeline off the field. He disregards the clamoring from his coach, or the calls from Jaemin and Mark. He practically trips down the stairs as he stumbles into the courtesy guest locker room, regaining his balance just as he catches sight of Jeno. His leg is propped on a pillow, and his body is reclined against a spare locker. His eyes are shut, appearing as a perfect image of peace; even if his leg is now all wrapped up with neon green pre-wrap, with a blue ice pack tucked underneath.

Donghyuck considers not bothering him, only breathing a sigh of relief that for now, everything is fine. Jeno being here still means that the injury is not serious enough to be transported to the hospital, which calms Hyuck’s nerves significantly. Satisfied, he quietly turns to head back up to the pitch.

“Hyuck, is that you?”

Dongyuck responds quickly. “How’d you know?”

“Your cleats make that obnoxiously loud sound whenever you walk off the pitch.”

Hands on his hips, Donghyuck purposely taps his feet as he walks over to where Jeno is sitting. Hyuck slides the bag of first aid supplies over to make room for him to take the seat beside Jeno. “Obnoxious, hm?”

Jeno’s eyes flutter open, training his gaze on Hyuck from the first second. His lips press into a firm line, and he nods. “Mhm! But, in an obnoxiously cute way. Everything about you is cute.” 

Donghyuck sighs, pushing away a stray piece of the light colored hair that looms over Jeno’s forehead. “You’re lucky you’re cute, or else I’d find a way to make you do extra push ups or laps at practice.” Hyuck’s touch does not necessarily escape the other boy’s proximity then, as he combs his lithe fingers through his hair slowly. This seemingly calms Jeno, as he hums and shuffles closer into Hyuck’s touch. “How are you feeling?”

“Mm.. my leg hurts a lot. But, the trainer said it’s a minor strain, so I should be fine in a few weeks.”

“You definitely shouldn’t have played today.”

Jeno does not hesitate in agreeing. “Yup.”

“Handsome, kind, but cannot analyze a situation..” Hyuck whistles lowly. “You’re _something_ , Lee Jeno.”

“Don’t make fun of me, my leg hurts.” Jeno’s pouting now, and his voice is several octaves higher than normal, apparently going for a more cutesy approach. It’s such an unusual sound on Jeno’s part that Donghyuck relents instantly. “You legally cannot do that.”

Donghyuck releases a breathy laugh then, his lips curling into a smile considerably too bright for the situation at hand. “Legally? Alright.” he settles. “I won’t make fun of you. As long as you promise me to get better soon, none of this funny business of getting yourself hurt. If you do it again, I will literally make you regret it, Lee Jeno. That’s a promise.”

Jeno tests his luck. “Because you were worried?”

“Because I _am_ worried.”

Jeno seems to not have expected the agreement, because suddenly he is the one blushing—and the flush of his cheeks looks so, so pretty on him—and stuttering. “O-Oh, okay. Yeah, because you asked so kindly, I’ll stay away from all things that can get me hurt. I’ll wrap myself in bubble wrap.”

“Good.”

“But if that’s the agreement, you have to promise me that you won’t get hurt, superstar. Never mind me, the team needs you for the rest of the half.”

“I won’t get hurt. I’m getting us that title no matter what, Jeno. I’ll make sure you didn’t risk yourself to play in vain.”

“That’s what I like to hear. Now, go back up there and score me a goal.”

Donghyuck stands up then, hearing the loud shuffling of cleats from outside. The second half is gearing up, so his presence is most definitely needed out on the pitch. He is dragging himself up the stairs, fingertips brushing on the rail, until he stops short. “Jeno?”

“Hm?”

“Call me what you just called me again.”

There’s a pause on Jeno’s behalf, as though he is recalling his past conversation with Donghyuck. It seems to suddenly hit him. “Superstar? Yeah, you’re a superstar.. My superstar.”

◎

Donghyuck’s tired.

The game is in the final minutes, with the score almost as it has been since before the first half—except the other team got a lucky goal due to the gap in defense without Jeno there. There is nothing more stressful than a 1-1 so close to the end of the game; one goal and everything can be tipped in one team’s favor. Hyuck’s been in overdrive, dashing to and fro in hopes of securing at least one more goal for the team so that they may relax in the last few seconds, but no such hope.

Until there’s a break in the midfield. It’s a poor pass from the opposite team, collected by an overzealous Chenle. Undeniably standing out once again, he edges past two of the opposite team’s midfielders, slipping into the box. It seems like he’s going to go for goal himself, and Hyuck watches intently as Chenle moves to make the shot.

He doesn’t get to, though. A defender collides into him harshly, causing Chenle to lose his balance, and he falls to his knees. Anger painting his face, he rises to his feet, arms stretched out as he appears victimized. “Hey!” With a decision, the referee is blowing his whistle and Chenle is shouting over it. “Ref, that was on purpose!” The opposite team’s defender is claiming that he did not mean to knock him over, hoping to sway the referee in his favor. The referee waves his arm towards goal, and Hyuck’s eyes flash as the firm word escapes the man’s mouth. “Penalty!”

Quickly, Hyuck, Jaemin, Chenle, and an additional midfielder gather together.

“Who’ll take it?” asks Donghyuck.

Of the four, Jaemin is the best at penalty taking. He has a conversion rate of 90%, being oddly good at them though not always playing in the attacking midfield position. However, Jaemin points at Donghyuck and says, “You will, isn’t that obvious?” Chenle nods in agreement.

“Nana, why don’t you take it? You’re better at me, you know that.”

“True.” Jaemin’s bold in agreeing. “But I’ve been playing defense more recently after Yangyang’s injury. I’m a good choice regardless, but personally, I think we’d be safer if you took it. You’ve scored the most goals, what’s one more?”

There’s not much time for Donghyuck to disagree, as he is pushed to the penalty line without seconds in the game to spare. If Hyuck gets it, they win; if he doesn’t, they go into a set of overtime. The entire team is standing behind him, spurring him on with praise and good wishes. He takes a moment to lace up his cleats, they were a little loose, and he can hear the referee snapping at him to hurry up! He rises, rolling his shoulders back as his eyes find those of the goalie. He’s jumping, warming his body up to dive in the direction of the ball. He looks confident, like he is convinced he’ll save it.

Unluckily for him, Donghyuck is sure he’ll score it.

He takes a step back, calculating where he wants the ball to go; tucking in the upper right corner looks just about perfect to Donghyuck, which is where he aims. He watches as the ball sails towards goal. The goalie guesses correctly, leaping left. However the balls slips just past the tips of his glove, the kick too powerful to be stopped without much more effort. The ball hits the back of the net, and the referee blows the whistle once, twice.

_It’s over!_

Donghyuck glances towards the bench, where he can see an overly enthusiastic Jeno, offering him the happiest smile he’s seen in an awfully long time. Jeno’s eyes are gleaming with pride, and Hyuck can make out that he’s mouthing ‘ _superstar_ ’. His heart swells.

The team is crowding around him then, blocking his view of Jeno, but screaming in pure unbridled happiness. This is what they’ve worked the entire season for, the feeling they receive when they val rightfully call themselves champions. Seeing the looks on the player’s faces makes everything worth it for Donghyuck: the late nights at the field, wrapping his sore knees in pre-wrap underneath his baggy Adidas sweats, the weight that constantly pressed on his shoulders. Everything is worth it for this moment.

But, it’s not quite right yet.

He heads towards the bench, straight to where a seated Jeno awaits him. He kneels beside him, dirtying his white shorts with the green of the pitch.

“Hyuck, congratulations—” is what Jeno begins to say, before Donghyuck cuts him off with what he’s been wanting to tell him for days.

“I like you.” It’s spontaneous and entirely expected of someone of Donghyuck’s behavior. This catches Jeno off guard, though, but he doesn’t interrupt him. “I like everything about you, Lee Jeno. From the way you plan picnics in the cold and sacrifice your GUNDAM blanket for me to sit on, to how your eyes crinkle up when you find something funny, or how you persisted to like me even though I’m probably one of the most stubborn people on this entire campus. I like you. So much. I’m sorry for not telling you sooner.” He is breathing hard, a mix of nerves and overall exhaustion.

Jeno covers his face with his palms, and Donghyuck can see the red filling every part of his face. “Why would you do this now? This is your moment, I can’t take this from you. I hate you, Lee Donghyuck, because I like you too. _So much more_ than you know.”

“You’re not stealing this moment from me since I’ve been thinking of spending this moment with you, and only you.”

Jeno’s eyes are welling with tiny tears. “..Hyuck.”

“A list of people I don’t respect,” Renjun’s voice shocks the two. They’re surprised to see he has his camera out, documenting the moment, as is Yangyang. The two have been there the entire time, watching the scene in awe. “these two. Confessing when we just won a championship. Lovesick losers don’t ever stop, huh?” Renjun wipes a tear from his own eyes. “Ridiculous.”

“I knew it from the start that you two would take the cutest couple on the team title from Mark and I. Very proud!” Jaemin interrupts, entering the conversation. He and Mark are holding hands, smug looks on both of their faces as they take in a kneeling Donghyuck glaring up at Jeno like he put the stars in the sky; it’s a refreshing sight, considering Jeno is usually the one with the look of admiration. Everyone else had seen it, just not Donghyuck.

Donghyuck sticks his tongue out at Jaemin and Mark. “You guys were the only couple on the team, nobody could’ve challenged it!”

“ _Exactly_.” Jaemin says.

“Huh?” Jeno blinks. “Are we a couple, then?”

“I don’t know..” Donghyuck answers shyly, as if he hadn’t just boldly confessed moments ago. “Do you want to be?”

“List of people I don’t respect!” Renjun starts again, and both Yangyang and Jaemin are yelling at him for ruining the moment. “People who confess and then have the audacity to ask if they’re a couple. Please, just kiss him and let this be over! We have a championship to celebrate!”

◎

The library is quiet on a Friday, especially as it nears the evening. However, Jeno and Donghyuck are preoccupied—not by each other, but with the papers scattered over the table.

“Hyuck, you don’t need to go over this stuff with me, I swear!”

“I don’t believe you. I want to see a good grade on this final exam, or else coach is going to think all we did was make out and drink coffee.”

“Kinda tragic we weren’t dating earlier,” Jeno sighs wistfully. “that doesn’t sound so bad.” When Donghyuck glares at him incredulously, Jeno pokes him sorely with the eraser side of his pencil. “You’re lying if you tell me that sounds bad! Tell me.”

Eyebrows raised, Donghyuck tilts his head but says nothing more. The silence is enough of an answer, and Jeno slaps the table with tiny giggles. Smiling, Hyuck attempts to focus on the algebraic problems on the paper. “Don’t distract me, Lee Jeno.” (He doesn’t really mean that, he’d welcome Jeno distracting him at any capacity.) “Or else.”

Jeno, not at all listening, leans toward Donghyuck. His fingertips graze Hyuck’s wrist, then the tip of his chin. Hyuck shifts awkwardly, sparing a surveying glance around the room. “Is that a captain’s order?”

Hyuck grabs the largest folder, setting it up in front of he and Jeno. He finally gives the boy his direct, undivided attention, realizing just how close in proximity they are now. He can see every aspect of Jeno’s sculptured face, from the prominent swoop of the bridge of his nose, to the jawline sharp enough to cut Hyuck’s fingers if he dares to scrape his fingertips across it. Jeno’s eyes are shimmering under the library’s caramel lights, and all Hyuck can think of is how pretty his boyfriend is. He leans in then, tipping the boy’s chin closer and savoring the way Jeno’s eyelashes brush his cheek softly. “It’s a captain’s order.”

**Author's Note:**

> if you made it here.. I applaud and THANK you immensely. if you’d like, comments and kudos make me very happy, and they’re so nice to read back! regardless, I hope you all enjoyed this as much I enjoyed writing it!!!!!!!!!!! come say hi on Twitter @smtownlee & CC nakamotosyuta


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